Sleep Apnea - Know The Common Signs Of It!

Sleep apnoea is a kind of disease that can affect people of any age and is basically a kind of sleep disorder. The person suffering from sleep apnoea may feel extremely tired and fatigued even after having a full night’s sleep and his snoring may become extremely loud which is again a serious problem.

What are the symptoms of sleep apnoea?

• There can be many cases where the symptoms of central sleep apnoea and complex sleep apnoea may be overlapping which makes it a bit difficult to get diagnosed properly. But, there are certain very basic symptoms of sleep apnoea.
• Very loud snoring is a basic characteristic of patients with sleep apnoea.
• The patient may suffer from regular episodes of cessation when they are sleeping as might be pointed out by other people.
• The patient may awaken from sleep regularly due to shortness of breath and problems in the sleeping order.
• The patient suffering from sleep apnoea may wake up from sleep with a very dry mouth and or a sore throat.
• The patient may suffer from a bad headache often and in many unfortunate cases, the patients may also suffer from insomnia which is the problem of sleeplessness.
• Patients of sleep apnoea suffer from intense problems of irritability and bouts of morning sleepiness.
• Shortness of breath may intensify in a patient so much so that the person may get awakened from sleep gasping for air as if choking.
• Excessive bouts of daytime sleeping may cause a person to perform very poorly in his work as well.

It is at these times when a patient should immediately consult a doctor for a proper treatment and further solution to this problem.

Causes of sleep apnea

• Obstructive sleep apnoea is caused when the muscle in our throat starts relaxing. It is this muscle that gives support to the triangular piece of tissue that hangs from the uvula which is the soft palate and the side walls of the tongue. Basically, when this muscle relaxes, the airways in the body gets narrowed as a result of which the blood does not get enough oxygen which is required for proper breathing. It is then that the brain starts sending signals to get up from sleep so that the nasal passage can be reopened for sufficient amount of oxygen.
• There can also be cases where the brain is unable to send a proper signal to the muscles that help us to breath as a result of which a person does not breathe for a certain period of time. This, in turn, makes the patient awaken abruptly from sleep with shortness of breath and the patient finds it difficult to fall asleep.