Have you ever felt sleepy all day, even after sleeping like 8 hours at night? Mind is active & body is not? Concentrating at work is difficult? Usually forget the dates, hard to recall the names at your daily working place? Do you wake up with dry mouth, sore throat or morning headaches? If yes, continue to read this article.
The state is called SLEEP APNEA which is basically involuntary interrupted breathing during sleep. The patient is usually unaware of this, but person sleeping next to them may notice them gasping, breathing heavy or not breathing at all for few seconds during sleep.
This is common phenomenon seen in 20-50 years old, obese women, people having disturbed sleep cycle, Long sleep derived employees , Children with more electronic devices in room, post menopausal, new mothers, or people having enlarged tonsils.
How to check for this at home: Home Sleep Apnea Testing (HSAT)
The number of apnea episodes that occur every hour determines sleep apnea severity:
- Normal – 0-5 apnea episodes per hour.
- Mild sleep apnea – 5-15 apnea episodes per hour.
- Moderate sleep apnea – 16-30 apnea episodes per hour.
- Severe sleep apnea – 31+ episodes per hour.
Normal to Mild sleep apnea can be treated by lifestyle changes like sleep habit , presleep activities, less caffeine intake, alcohol cessation, smoking cessation, morning exercising, food habits & few medication in a few cases.
But if you have Moderate to Severe sleep apnea, you need medical attention because that can be more due to physiological issues then just the lifestyle.
The causes can be:-
- Muscular : Tongue falls back or creates narrow airway .
- Physical obstructions : Tonsillitis or excessive fat around neck
- Brain function : Irrythmic breathing pattern
Patients with such degree of sleep apnea have the risk of:
- heart attack
- stroke
- hypertension
- increased risk of mortality
- headaches
- memory troubles
- glaucoma
- vehicle accidents
- severe mood changes
- chronic fatique
- overall decreased quality of life.
Oral symptoms of sleep apnea:
- Dry mouth or sore throat in the morning
- Rapidly developing dental caries
- TMJ disorders
- Pain in teeth & jaws
Ways to treat Sleep Apnea :
- Positive pressure therapy – i.e. Continous Positive Air Pressure therapy
- Surgery – in case of tonsillitis or obstruction
- Mandibular Repositioning Devices – which places the lower jaw in forward direction to keep the airway open.
TO GET MORE INFORMATION OR TO GET THE BEST TREATMENT FOR THIS, book appointment at the best dentist in ashok vihar, Dr. Sachdeva’s Dental Insitute , providing the best care since 15 years.
