What is sleep apnea?

July 2nd, 2009 by admin

The sleeping problem called sleep apnea is well known today. Certain pauses in the air intake that cause the patients to wake up throughout the night are a major problem faced by many people. People with this sleeping disorder will feel drowsy with severe headache when they wake up. Their whole day will be ruined because of their drowsiness. Sleep apnea means “cessation of breath.” It is characterized by repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction that occur during sleep, usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. In other words, the airway becomes obstructed at several possible sites. The upper airway can be obstructed by excess tissue in the airway, large tonsils, a large tongue and usually includes the airway muscles relaxing and collapsing when asleep. In sleep apnea, your breathing stops or gets very shallow. Each pause in breathing typically lasts 10 to 20 seconds or more. These pauses can occur 20 to 30 times or more an hour.

 

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