Have you ever had a sleepless night? Remember how scared you were that you won’t be able to go through the next day all tired and sleepy. And yet the sleep won’t come. If you go through this phase every night, then you may be insomniac. But how many of us know about the sleeping disorder called “Sleep Apnea”? Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder in which the patient stops breathing when sleeping, sometimes this happens many times in a night and the breathing may stop for as long a one minute.
Sleep apnea is mainly of three different types – obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea and mixed sleep apnea. Some of the symptoms of sleep apnea are snoring very loudly; feeling tired all through the day, feeling sleepy all the time, weight gain, recurrent awakening from sleep and many others. Most of the time patients don’t realize that they have a sleeping disorder. But as they come to understand that their body is fighting for life every time they go to sleep, they become really scared.
Sleep Apnea patients are suggested to undergo CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy. The main reason of the occurrence of sleep apnea is the narrowing of the upper airway due to relaxing of muscles as one sleeps. This results in reduced oxygen levels in the blood, which can be fatally harmful, if not taken proper care of. CPAP machines send pressurized air directly into the airway, when the patient is sleeping and keeps the airway open with the help of CPAP mask.
Sleep apnea machines are considered to be the best treatment for sleep apnea. The patients may take a little time to adjust when sleeping with the mask. But in the end, a little discomfort is better than putting oneself in life threatening situations.
