Sleep Apnea Treatment Can Be Performed With Lifestyle Changes

By Author: Alex Bowmann
Total Articles: 80
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Treatment may improve other medical problems linked to sleep apnea, such as high blood pressure. Treatment also can reduce risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Sleep apnea treatment can be performed with lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices, and surgery. About 70 percent of populace with obstructive sleep apnea are overweight or obese. Their health care professionals usually encourage them to lose weight. There are two types of breathing interruption characteristic of OSA the muscles and soft tissues in the throat relax and collapse sufficiently to cause a total blockage of the airway; it is called an apnoea when the airflow is blocked for 10 seconds or more in the same way hypopnoea is a partial blockage of the airway that results in an airflow reduction of greater than 50% for 10 seconds or more.
Individuals can vary in their need for sleep, what is a refreshing night's sleep for one person might be insomnia for another person. Time required to fall asleep may also vary. In the UK, sleep disorders affect about 770,000 people and in the USA approximately 5 million people suffer with sleep disorders and they require sleep apnea treatment.

There are also a couple of companies that make a products designed to discourage supine sleeping. The goals of treating sleep apnea are to restore regular breathing during sleep and relieve symptoms such as loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. If treatment and enough sleep don't relieve daytime sleepiness, doctor will surely consider other treatment options. Surprisingly, there have been few formal studies of how effectively weight loss leads to lesser, lighter snoring and diminished incidents of apnea and hypopnea during sleep. The snoring in people with obstructive sleep apnea is caused by the air trying to squeeze through the narrowed or blocked airway. However, everyone who snores does not have sleep apnea.

Normally, the upper throat still remains open enough during sleep to let air pass by. When the muscles in their upper throat relax during sleep, their breathing can stop for a period of time called apnea. Certain shapes of the palate or airway can cause the airway to be narrower or collapse more easily. For people with sleep apnea, the combination of disturbed sleep and oxygen starvation may lead to hypertension, heart disease and mood and memory problems. Sleep apnea also increases the risk of automobile crashes. There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed. Of the three, obstructive sleep apnea, often called OSA for short, is the most common.

Alex Bowmann is the author of this article. For further detail about sleep apnea treatment and sleep apnea please visit the website.