What Causes Sleep Apnea?

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

  

In our last post, we talked about some of the signs and symptoms of a common sleep disorder known as sleep apnea. In this post, we’ll talk more about what sleep apnea is and what causes it.

For patients with sleep apnea, getting the kind of restful night of sleep necessary for a healthy lifestyle is difficult. That’s because patients with sleep apnea experience interrupted sleep—that is, they actually stop breathing throughout the night. As a result, they are continually waking up so that they can breathe.

Why do sleep apnea patients stop breathing?

The most common reason is that their airways have become blocked by their tongue or their lower jaw. That’s why another name for sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, or OSAS.

But the good news is that patients with sleep apnea don’t have to just live with their problem. With treatment, it’s possible to enjoy the kind of deep, peaceful sleep you’ve been missing.

How is sleep apnea treated?

By supplying your lungs with the air they desperately need. And that can happen in a couple of ways.

In our posts for next month, we’ll discuss those methods in greater detail. For now, if you suspect that you might suffer from sleep apnea, give Dr. Wade a call at Stonebriar Smile Design. Together her with smart, talented team, she can answer all your questions about sleep apnea, in addition to providing you with a treatment solution.

Call us today if you live in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, or a surround area. We look forward to helping you!

Symptoms and Side Effects of Sleep Apnea

Symptoms and Side Effects of Sleep Apnea

A quality night of sleep is important to a healthy lifestyle. But a common sleep disorder known as sleep apnea can prevent you from getting the restful sleep you need and deserve.

Side effects of sleep apnea include:

·          

•      Daytime drowsiness
•          Stress
•          Fatigue
•          Moodiness
•          Difficulty concentrating
•         Memory loss, and more…

Other more serious side effects of sleep apnea include accidents at work or while driving, high blood pressure, heart problems, and risk of premature. What’s more, untreated sleep apnea doesn’t just endanger your health. It can also endanger your partner’s health. Since one of the most common signs of sleep apnea is snoring, you could be preventing your partner from getting the kind of sleep they need, resulting in similar side effects for them. All of which means that if you regularly experience any of these symptoms, it’s time to find out if you have sleep apnea.

The reason that patients with sleep apnea experience all these symptoms is that they actually stop breathing while they sleep. This prompts the brain to send out a signal waking the patient up so they can breathe. Sometimes that just means moving from a deep stage of sleep to a lighter stage of sleep, but in other cases you may wake up completely. But even if you don’t, you still aren’t getting the kind of sleep you need to feel rested during the day.

So, what causes sleep apnea? We’ll talk more about that in our next post. For now, if any of these symptoms look familiar, give Dr. Wade’s Frisco office a call to schedule a consultation appointment. Dr. Wade and her team at Stonebriar Smile Design serve patients from Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, and surrounding areas.