Is Sleep Apnea Really Dangerous?
Sleep apnea is not all that uncommon and involves a situation where you have
pauses or stop breathing for periods of time up to five to thirty times per
hour. Breathing starts up again, usually with a gasp, although there are
times when the breathing is shallow in intensity and then gradually
increases so that it is normal again before stopping breathing. The end
result is a poor quality of sleep that interferes with the daytime
functioning.
Sleep Apnea Basics
Sleep apnea tends to act over a long period of time and usually interferes
with sleep up to three or more nights in any given week. You generally
switch too often between deep sleep and light sleep so that the overall
quality of sleep is poor and you are tired during the day from a lack of
good night time sleep. Sleep apnea, in fact, is one of the most common
causes of daytime sleepiness.
There are Three Major Varieties of Sleep Apnea
There is obstructive sleep apnea, mixed sleep apnea and central
sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the airway becomes
blocked by airway tissue that falls inward upon itself, causing blockage of
the airway. The breaths stop until you gasp and the airway opens. Your
sleep is obstructed as well.
In central sleep apnea, there is something wrong with the brain so that the
brain turns of the signal to breathe so that you can stop breathing or
several seconds at once. People with sleep apnea of the mixed variety are
suffering from both obstructive and central aspects to the condition. But
the question is: Can sleep apnea really be lethal?
Sleep Apnea Affects the Brain and the Heart
If the sleep apnea, obstructive or central, lasts for a long period of time,
both the brain and the heart are suffering from a lack of oxygen. Your
carbon dioxide rises and you develop high blood pressure. Brain damage or
death can occur when the oxygen levels of the brain get too low for too
long. This is also true of the heart which can suffer from a lack of oxygen
and can have a problem with congestive heart failure.
Those who suffer from the condition of sleep apnea suffer from slow reaction
times in situations of emergency. They are less likely to respond quickly
to fires in the home at night or to carbon monoxide poisoning at night.
With the right treatment, on the other hand, things like CPAP machines can
improve the amount of quality sleep a person gets at night and these things
can reduce mortality and morbidity considerably.