What may well be happening is a condition known as sleep apnea. When people sleep they undergo many cycles, five stages in all can be moved through per sleep cycle. Initial stages consist of drowsiness and light sleep, latter deep sleep stages then result, REM being the final state.
Sleep apnea involves your body physically stopping breathing for a very short amount of time. Your body reacts to this sudden starving of oxygen by jolting you into commencing breathing again. Afterwards sleep is continued, unfortunately time is required to reach deep sleep and therefore people who's bodies are constantly waking up during a night may well find they're very tired the next day. The incidents when you awoke during the night may well not even be remembered at all. Incidents of breathing cessation can occur many times, sometimes up to 100 times in one night.
Three classifications of sleep apnea exist:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
By far the most common of the sleep apnea's, people suffering from OSA have normal breathing that becomes momentarily stopped from passing into the lungs due to upper reaches of the air passages (run from the mouth to the lungs and are supported by muscles) collapsing whilst asleep.
Central Sleep Apnea
Chest muscles stop functioning for short periods whilst asleep, breathing consequently momentarily halted.
Mixed Sleep Apnea
Known to be one of the most difficult of the sleep apnea's to treat. The sufferers brain occasionally fails to keep the body breathing. When the person then tries to breathe an air passage obstruction/ collapse makes this very difficult.
Unusually large tongues, tonsils or uvulas can block your airways. Certain air passage or jaw shapes including polyps found in the nasal cavity can also promote obstructions to air movements. Too much fat deposition around the neck can mean air passages are constricted further when pressure is applied from lying down and sleeping.
Quick re-starting of your breathing increases the work the heart has to do as well. The heart is furiously trying to move what oxygen exists in the blood to all necessary areas. Sleep apnea are associated with:
Sleep apnea is commonest in men, of which those that are older, snore or are overweight suffer most. The huge problem of this condition is that it can go undiscovered for years since it is not immediately obvious. Many sufferers of this condition learn to work around their daily tiredness, how tired they actually are not always being fully realized. Sleep apnea symptoms can be:
Chest retraction (known as sunken chest). Seen in child sufferers Sore/ dry throat Low memory Poor concentration Lowered libido Occasional nightly urination Waking numerous times per night Depression Morning dry mouth Fatigue and sleepiness during the day Changes in personality Headaches in the morning Unexplained respiratory or heart cessations Strong perspiration during sleep Increased weight gain
If you or your spouse may have experienced any of the above symptoms try visiting your local GP for answers. Potentially finding that you do have sleep apnea and subsequently getting rid of it could be one of the best things you do.
While sleep apnea might not sound like a very serious problem it can have very serious effects on your life. Experts agree that in order to function properly, most adults need around seven or eight hours of sleep each night and most of this should be uninterrupted to allow the brain to get into its deep sleep rhythms. If you have sleep apnea, however you're probably being awakened many times during the night and thus unable to get into a deep sleep.
People with this condition often wake up unrefreshed even though they've been in bed for eight hours. Sometimes they might wake up with a headache, sore throat or dry mouth. If you're not getting the necessary sleep at night or not feeling good when you wake up then chances are you are not performing your best at work and may even be falling asleep at your desk, or worse yet while driving.
Sleep apnea can affect your personal life too. If you're not getting enough sleep, your probably cranky and not too much fun to be around. Of course, this can have adverse effects on any relationship and also diminishes your enjoyment of life.
So if you have sleep apnea, you'd see why it would be important to get to your doctor in order to have the appropriate diagnosis, wouldn't you? Then why are so many people suffering with this when there are treatments available? The simple reason is that over 90% of the people with it don't even know that they have it!
Sleep apnea can be a very subtle problem and because it is happening while you're asleep, you might not even remember them waking up in the middle of the night. Therefore, you probably want to be aware of some other symptoms that might indicate the need for a trip to the doctor. Here are some things to look out for:
1. Loud snoring (many people that don't have sleep apnea snore however this may be an indication). 2. Choking or gasping for air during the night. 3. A waking suddenly. 4. Waking up in the morning and feeling like you didn't get enough sleep. 5. Waking up in the middle of the night in a sweat. 6. Being sleepy during the day for no good reason. 7. Waking up with a dry mouth, headache or sore throat.
Sleep apnea can be caused by a few things, the most common type called obstructive sleep apnea is caused by an obstruction that blocks your breathing. This can be either that you have large adenoids or tonsils, you have a smaller than normal airway due to the shape of your neck, your soft palate is getting in the way of your breathing or your tongue and throat muscles relax too much when you are sleeping.
The two other types are central sleep apnea which is very rare and is the cause of a central nervous system disorder caused by a brain infection, brain tumor, stroke or injury and mixed sleep apnea which is a combination of the other two.
In addition to wreaking havoc on your relationships and your enjoyment of life, sleep apnea can have some pretty serious health problems as well. When you stop breathing during the night not only does it cause sleep deprivation, it also causes oxygen deprivation. These can in turn affect her life in the following ways:
1. Daytime tiredness 2. Emotional imbalance 3. Poor mental function 4. Compromised immune system 5. Low energy 6. Slow reaction time 7. Heart abnormalities 8. High blood pressure and stroke 9. Memory problems 10. Weight gain 11. Sexual dysfunction 12. Depression 13. More apt to falsely driving, thus causing a car accident
If you do have sleep apnea, however, don't despair! There are quite a few treatments available and you should be able to find something that suit you. Some of the treatments involve lifestyle changes such as losing weight, sleeping on your side and not smoking. Some make use of medications and devices that help open airways. And if nothing else helps, there are some surgeries that can help the problem.
Both Alex Rider & Lee Dobbins are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.