The Symptoms Of Sleep Apnea May Not Always Be That Easy To Recognize

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Sleep apnea is an extremely common sleep disorder which affects more than twelve million US citizens and is now as commonplace as adult diabetes.

The commonest form of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea which, as its name suggests, results from an obstruction to your airways which interferes with breathing. In addition, there is a second form of sleep apnea referred to as central sleep apnea, in which your brain is not able to adequately control your breathing during sleep. Finally, some people suffer from mixed sleep apnea, which is a combination of both obstructive and central forms of the condition.

The symptoms of sleep apnea can arise at any time and, while they are most commonly found in overweight men who are over the age of 40, they can be found in both men and women of all ages and are being seen quite frequently nowadays in children.

The most obvious symptom of sleep apnea is snoring which is of course a hard symptom to spot yourself and frequently needs to be pointed out to you by your sleeping partner. Snoring has a variety of causes and snoring is not by itself an indication that you have sleep apnea. It is the case nevertheless that most sufferers do snore.

The second most obvious symptom of sleep apnea is abnormal tiredness during the day. When you suffer from sleep apnea you stop breathing many times during sleep and your body's instinctive reaction to this is to arouse you just sufficiently for you to begin breathing again, but not sufficiently for you to be aware that you are being awakened. The result is that your sleep is extremely light and often interrupted and you do not enjoy the deep sleep that your body needs in order to recharge its batteries. As a result, in time, you find that you are getting ever more tired during the day.

If sleep apnea is left untreated its affects will start to become more and more evident and a range of further symptoms will begin to appear. These might include headaches (especially first thing in the morning), touchiness and perhaps depression. You may also find that you are starting to put on weight.

One not so obvious symptom of sleep apnea is raised blood pressure which can produce various cardiovascular problems. This will be seen if you are one of the growing number of people who are now monitoring their own blood pressure regularly at home but will not otherwise be spotted until you undergo a routine physical exam at your physician's office.

Another symptom is that of learning difficulties and difficultues with memory. Once again this is not something that is easy to detect yourself but friends and family could well notice that you are no longer as fast on the uptake as you used to be.

A few individuals with sleep apnea will experience a drop in their sexual function and this could result in impotency.

As is the case with with many conditions individual symptoms could well be a sign of practically anything. However, when you begin to see these symptoms coming together then you should consider talking to your physician and think about having yourself tested for sleep apnea.

A word of caution though. Testing for sleep apnea will often involve referral to a sleep specialist, preferably one certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM), and may involve undergoing overnight sleep testing either in a sleep laboratory or at home. This testing will often cost upwards of $1,000 and you may need to check with your health insurance company before you commit yourself to a program of sleep apnea evaluation.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Help-Me-To-Sleep.com offers information and advice on a range of different sleep disorders including sleep apnea and looks at sleep apnea symptoms amongst other things. We also look in detail at finding a natural cure for insomnia

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