Obstructive sleep apnoea (snoring)
goodtoknow says: People with sleep apnoea tend to snore loudly and wake many times during the night. This happens because the muscles in the throat relaxed too much and block the airways. But don't worry, sleep apnoea won't kill you because your brain will wake you up and make you start breathing again. However you may be extremely tired during the day because your sleep has been so disturbed. There's a slight risk you may go on to develop heart or lung problems. Overweight, middle aged drinkers are most prone to sleep apnoea. Losing weight, cutting down on alcohol and sleeping on your side can help considerably though sometimes surgery or special sleeping aids are necessary.
For a full medical explanation of the causes, symptoms and treatments of obstructive sleep apnoea from patient.co.uk, read on.
If you have obstructive sleep apnoea you have many periods when your breathing stops for 10 seconds or more when you sleep. You wake up briefly after each episode of 'stopped breathing' to start breathing again. You do not usually remember the many times that you briefly wake up, but you have a disturbed nights sleep. As a result you can feel very sleepy during the day. The typical person with this condition is overweight, middle aged, and snores loudly. However, it can affect anyone. Treatment usually works well.
What is obstructive sleep apnoea?
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a condition where your breathing stops for short spells when you are asleep. The word apnoea means 'without breath', that is, the breathing stops. In the case of OSA, the breathing stops because of an obstruction to the flow of air down your airway. The obstruction to the airflow occurs in the throat at the top of the airway.
You may also have episodes where your breathing becomes abnormally slow
and shallow. This is called 'hypopnoea'. Because there can also be
these episodes of hypopnoea, doctors sometimes use the term
'obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome'.- Next: What happpens when people have sleep apnoea?
More help and advice
- Tips on coping with sleep apnoea
- Get the facts on insomnia
- Ten ways to improve your sleep
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Where to next?
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Do snoring remedies really work?
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Semisomnia: A modern sleep condition
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Sleep problems: help and information
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What happens in people with obstructive sleep apnoea?
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What is the treatment for OSA?
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Who gets obstructive sleep apnoea?
nancy hodge, 8 months
i read an article on snoring from a man in tring in hertfordshire who was designing a gadget to help stop snoring and he said it would be available in a few months could you e mail me his address or where i could purchase this gadget it must have been a few months ago that i read it .Many thanks Mrs. N. Hodge
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