Monday, September 2, 2019

What are the Symptoms and Risks associated with Sleep Apnea?

Symptoms

The most common symptom of sleep apnea as most of us know is snoring. Treatment for sleep apnea also acts as an anti-snoring procedure.  However, it is not always the case that everyone who is having a snoring problem is having sleep apnea. Snoring is most likely to be a sign of sleep apnea when it is followed by silent breathing pauses and choking or gasping sounds during one’s sleep.

People who are having sleep apnea often tend to have daytime sleepiness or fatigue.

The most common symptoms of sleep apnea include:

Shrill or frequent snoring
Frequent silent pauses in breathing
Choking or gasping sounds
Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
Unrefreshing sleep
Insomnia
Morning headaches
Difficulty concentrating
Memory loss
Decreased sexual desire
Irritability



Risk Factors associated with Sleep Apnea:

The major risk factor that doctors associate with sleep apnea is excessive body weight. It is found that patients are much more likely to develop sleep apnea if they are overweight or obese. However, sleep apnea can also occur in slim people too. It is important to get Sleep Apnea Treatment in Singapore or in your city before things take a turn for the worse.

 Below we mention some of the common risk factors for sleep apnea: 

Excess weight – The risk for developing sleep apnea is higher if you are overweight with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more or obese with a BMI of 30 or higher.

A large neck size - Your risk for sleep apnea gets higher if you are having a neck size of 17 inches or more for men, or 16 inches or more for women. A large neck has more soft tissues in the throat that can block your airway during sleep causing interruptions in breathing.

Middle age – Patients can be diagnosed with sleep apnea at any stage of their life. However, it is more common between young adulthood and middle age.

Male gender – It is found that sleep apnea is more common in men than in women. The risk of sleep apnea increases with menopause in women.

Hypertension – High blood pressure is an extremely common condition in people who have sleep apnea.