Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder, characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing during sleep. Generally, men are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea than women. A person who suffers from sleep apnea is typically a loud snorer, and experiences brief periods throughout the night (during sleep) wherein breathing actually stops, or they do not get enough oxygen during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and this may occur 5 to 30 times or more during a single hour.
There are 3 forms of sleep apnea: obstructive (OSA), central (CSA), and mixed, which is a combination of both:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) – is the most common category of sleep-disordered breathing, is due to an obstruction in the throat during sleep. During sleep, the muscle tone of the body ordinarily relaxes, and at the level of the throat the airway is composed of collapsible walls of soft tissue that can obstruct breathing during sleep. Bed partners of a person with OSA may notice breathing pauses approximately 10 to 60 seconds between loud snores. The narrowing of the upper airway can be a result of several factors including inherent physical characteristics, excess weight, excessive smoking, and alcohol consumption before sleep.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) – is caused by a delay in the signal that the brain tells the body to breathe, when the brain’s respiratory control centers are imbalanced during the sleep cycle. With CSA, the basic neurological controls for breathing rate physiologically malfunction and fail to deliver the ‘signal’ to inhale, causing the individual to miss one or more cycles of breathing.
The most common symptoms associated with sleep apnea include:
- Loud snoring
- Waking up feeling un-refreshed
- Having trouble staying awake during the day
- Awakening with headaches and/or sweating
- Waking up during the night experiencing a sensation of choking and gasping for air
- Frequent trips to the bathroom during the night
- General insomnia (problems staying asleep).
When a person suffers from a sleep apnea disorder he (or she) must wake up, briefly, to breathe – sometimes hundreds of times during the night – and there is usually no memory of these many, brief awakenings. The development of a sleep apnea disorder is multi-factorial, has many other causes, and is influenced by a number of conditions. If you are not sleeping well, or believe you are suffering from sleep apnea – and feel frustrated if conventional treatments are not working for you – at VIP Aesthetics our professionals can discuss treatment options and a solution plan specifically-tailored just for you.
Sleep research studies indicate that men are far more likely to have sleep apnea than women, and women are more prone to develop this disorder following menopause. In sleep laboratory tests, the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for postmenopausal women has resulted in a lower prevalence of this disorder. HRT improves sleep patterns and sleep-related breathing disorders in menopausal women and reduces hot flashes that also may disturb sleep.
Whether you are a man or a woman, at VIP Aesthetics we can personalize your individual care and perform additional tests to help control your sleep disorder(s) and sleep apnea ~ to provide you with peace of mind and more restful, restorative sleep.
