Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Sleep apnea is a condition whereby the throat muscles of a person relax too much when the person is asleep. This results in heavy and labored breathing, which is characterized by loud snoring. However, it can often be the case that breathing can stop altogether, which can lead to a situation where the heart is put under stress, and possibly lead to heart failure. For this reason, it is important to look at sleep apnea symptoms, as sleep apnea can be a very dangerous condition if not managed correctly. Sleep apnea symptoms are not too complicated to detect; however, they are very important to catch and treat early on, in order to prevent those sleep apnea symptoms from turning into something more serious, such as the aforementioned heart failure. 

Snoring is a sign that something is obstructing the upper airway. Usually the epiglottis is the cause of this snoring. The epiglottis is the flap of flesh which divides the airway from the digestive tract. When this rests in the open position during sleep, it vibrates whenever air passes it, causing the snoring sound. When a person snores due to sleep apnea symptoms, the body is unable to take in the right amounts of oxygen, and it is also unable to exhale the appropriate levels of carbon dioxide, thus unbalancing the body’s natural oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. When the brain senses the higher levels of carbon dioxide, it causes the body to wake up, resulting in an intermittent sleep pattern. Sleep apnea symptoms such as this can also lead to stress being placed on the heart, leading to heart failure in some cases. When there are other sleep apnea symptoms, such as daytime drowsiness, this can take a number of years to become noticeable. However it is no less dangerous. Excessive daytime drowsiness can be a contributing factor in such incidences as car crashes, work-place accidents, etc.

Another of the sleep apnea symptoms is restless sleep. This occurs because of the mechanisms that control breathing during the period of sleep. This sleep apnea symptom is a result of the body’s inability to get into a regular breathing pattern while sleeping, causing the body to wake up in order to restore the balance and correct the pattern. In some cases, the body, due to the sleep apnea symptoms, will stop breathing altogether; in these instances, the brain kick-starts the body, causing it to wake suddenly, in order to restore the natural breathing pattern, a well as the appropriate oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body. This sleep apnea symptom, although dangerous in itself in terms of its effect on the heart, is more responsible for people lacking refreshment after a night’s sleep, causing them to be anxious, tense, stressed and lacking in concentration in their day-to-day lives. For this reason, it is important to always recognize sleep apnea symptoms in order to treat them properly and restore the body’s ability to rest effectively at night.