Sleep apnea is a condition that is rarely spoken of outside doctor’s offices and hospitals, but there is a very apparent and real need to spread awareness of this debilitating condition. It is a problem that can affect anyone, regardless of their social status, as seen in the case of football star Ryan Jensen who claims his career was saved by a sleep apnea diagnosis. While he has a promising career right now, there was a time just three years ago that he wondered whether or not he would be seeing a professional football field. A sleep apnea test at home cleared up the problem quickly, but those who follow his career know that he was cut from Raven’s roster. What they might not realize, however, is that Jensen’s own father noted a change in his behavior. During a television interview he noted the following:

"We went out to dinner. My dad called me a couple of days later and goes, 'You're not acting like yourself, your mom broke down crying. You weren't being my son, you were being mean.”

An Invisible Disorder

Like most Americans, Jensen was unaware that he was suffering from sleep apnea. For the most part, the symptoms are completely invisible to the individual suffering, and they are often only detected by a family member. One sure sign of sleep apnea is snoring, and it should be noted that snoring is not the comedic plot device that television would have us believe. In fact, sleep apnea can be very harmful and can cause serious bodily damage, unlike anything you’ve dealt with before. Fortunately, Jensen’s were mostly performance issues.

A Life-Changing Illness

According to Jensen, he would go to sleep by 10 PM, and from his point of view, he would be asleep for nine to ten hours. Unfortunately, upon waking, none of that ‘sleep’ seemed to have translated. He would still be irritable, exhausted, and ready to go to bed again. This is a common story for anyone with sleep apnea, a condition which adversely affects 50-70% of adults in the United States. In Jensen’s case, he was awakened by his wife every few hours to be informed that he wasn’t breathing, which was a tip-off, and a reason to seek out sleep apnea testing.

It Starts at Home

Sleep apnea testing does not need to be carried out in a lab. It can be done at home in the comfort of your own bed, which is precisely what Jensen opted for. The testing can determine the patient’s blood oxygen level, and determine how many times they are waking up over the course of an evening. Jensen, like many others, found that it was not only a convenient testing method but that it was also life-changing.

Sleep apnea affects many people, and you may very well be one of them. It’s beyond critical for you to check and make sure that you’re not dealing with it, and that if you are, you seek out a solution immediately. The problem of sleep apnea is one that can be easily solved with a CPAP or APAP machine, responsible for pushing air down the individual’s airway, ensuring that it remains open for the duration of your sleep session. In most cases, these machines are covered by insurance, and like Jensen, you too can see your life change for the better.