The National Sleep Foundation revealed that more than 18 million adults in the U.S. suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, the majority of these people aren’t even aware of their condition, and are left undiagnosed.
When going untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, memory issues, obesity, parasomnias or sleepwalking. Also, there are indications that severe sleep apnea is connected to the repeated drops in blood oxygen levels and even premature death.
So, if you snore loudly or feel exhausted despite a "good night's rest", you should see your doctor. This condition can’t be detected in a blood test, but it is detected from things that the patients can tell their doctors. If your doctor considers you might have sleep apnea, they will refer you to a sleep specialist for a sleep study to evaluate for obstructive sleep apnea.
Treatment options could include a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine, an oral device or perhaps surgery.
In the meantime, we present to you 7 things that can worsen your sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea: 7 Things that Make it Worse
Weight Gain
The main factor that causes sleep apnea is obesity. Sleep specialists say that more than 50 percent of people who have sleep apnea are overweight. Also, if someone already has sleep apnea, gaining more weight will worsen the condition for them.
What’s even more ironic about this condition, is that the condition itself can cause weight gain. This is probably connected to sleep deprivation, which seems to tinker with hormones that normally suppress appetite leading to greater appetite and even eating more unhealthy foods. So, the smartest thing to do is to make healthier choices when it comes to food, and lead a healthier lifestyle overall.
Alcohol
Dr. Kathleen Yaremchuk, chair of otolaryngology and a sleep specialist at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit suggests that alcohol increases muscle relaxation, which means it relaxes the tongue muscle and makes the airway more vulnerable when sleeping. Cutting down on alcohol will surely help ease sleep apnea symptoms.
Medications
When it comes to medications, things become tricky. Muscle relaxants cause greater snoring, so make sure that the medications you take don’t include muscle relaxants. Painkillers can also be troublesome, especially opioids, because they cause respiratory suppression and add to breathing difficulties one may face overnight.
Other Medical Problems
If you suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure, have in mind that these conditions raise a person's cardiovascular risk and are linked with higher rates of sleep apnea. About 7 in 10 people with Type 2 diabetes also have obstructive sleep apnea, according to some medical studies. The sleep disorder directly impacts diabetes symptoms; and, poor glucose control is linked with more severe sleep apnea.
Sleep Position
Generally, sleeping on your back makes sleep apnea worse, and sleeping on your side makes it better. This is considered to be connected with how and where the weight falls on the airway. When you sleep on your back, the tongue relaxes further, and that is what makes sleep apnea worse.
Sleep Deprivation
When sleep-deprived, your body desperately needs a good night’s sleep, and it’s more eager to fall quickly into the deep sleep period REM. The problem is that when in REM sleep, sleep apnea becomes worse. This has to do with the fact that REM sleep is a highly relaxed state. So, it’s really important to regularly get your sleep. Of course, this is often quite difficult, considering that sleep deprivation is often an actual consequence of sleep apnea.
Smoking
Smoking increases the risk of developing sleep apnea and compound breathing problems. Cigarettes are nothing less, but direct irritants to the upper airway, the throat, the uvula, the soft palate and the tongue, and over time can cause this area to swell. Smoking is also the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and an unfortunate trigger for symptoms of asthma. Needless to say, you are better off without smoking.