The Worrying Connection Between Sleep Apnea And High Blood Pressure

By Author: Sleep Solutions
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How often do you wake up breathlessly during night? Do you feel sleepy during the day time, with no appropriate explanation? You are among millions who are affected with Sleep Apnea, if you are experiencing these kinds of symptoms.

What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a grave sleeping condition in which your breathing stops for as many as hundreds of times. Each time you stop breathing, your oxygen levels will go down and your brain will be signaled to wake up and restart breathing. As the time spent awake is too short, sleep apnea patients will not be able to remember it. The constant wake up and sleep cycle prevents these people to achieve deep sleep that further results in a constant drowsy feeling during the day.

Types of Sleep Apnea

Basically, there are two types of Sleep Apnea:

Obstructive Sleep Apnea - This type of sleep apnea is caused when there is a blockage in the upper airway, when the soft tissues in the rear of the throat collapse during sleep.

Central Sleep Apnea - In this type of sleep apnea, the airways does not get blocked, but the brain falls ...
... short to signal the muscles to control breathing.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is most common among older and adults and among those who are overweight. Obstructive Sleep Apnea can also increase the risk of heart problems, strokes, high blood pressure and cognitive problems.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

The following symptoms indicate Sleep Apnea in people.
• Loud snoring while sleeping at night
• Difficulty in sleeping or insomnia
• Waking up with short of breaths at night
• Feeling extremely drowsy throughout the day
• Falling asleep unintentionally during the day
• Snorting or choking sounds during sleep
• Trouble in concentrating, irritability, changes in mood and behavior
• Morning headaches

How does obstructive sleep apnea cause high blood pressure?

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea might develop high blood pressure. As obstructive sleep apnea causes frequent pauses in our breathing, when these breathing pauses happens, the oxygen levels in our blood goes down. These frequent bouts of low oxygen levels damage the blood vessels causing delay or break in the supply of blood to the heart. Regular episodes will tell your heart to beat fast causing the pressure goes up with high blood pressure. Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea can also make your heart enlarged due to stress exerted on it. An enlarged heart gets less oxygen and work less efficiently.

Treatment of Sleep Apnea

Apart from adopting certain lifestyle changes, one of the most common methods known to us for the treatment of sleep apnea is CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) machine. The CPAP machine will blow air into your lungs through the hose connected with mask worn comfortably over nose and mouth. The air going into your lungs through the machine will keep the airway from closing during sleep and allows the wearer experience a sound and restorative sleep.

Will the treatment of Sleep Apnea also treat High Blood Pressure?

The treatment of sleep apnea with CPAP will surely help in lowering down your blood pressure rate. With this therapy, one can breathe normally that could also reduce stress on the body. Studies suggest that this sleep apnea treatment helps hypertension patients not only lower their blood pressures but also improve day time energy and stamina reducing excessive stress on the heart and risk of heart attack, stroke and heart diseases.

Untreated sleep apnea can be life threatening as it may make people fall asleep at inappropriate times such as while working or driving. Obstructive sleep apnea might also put individuals at a risk for heart attacks, heart strokes and high blood pressure. One successful treatment of sleep apnea and hence for high blood pressure and heart diseases is the treatment of CPAP machine. It works by blowing air into the lungs and opening the blocked airways.