Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder. When a person has sleep apnea, he or she stops breathing for short periods of time. In most cases this lasts from 10 seconds to 1 minute or more while asleep. Then the person begins breathing again. A person may stop breathing only a few times or hundreds of times in the course of the night.
Sleep Apnea Risk factors include:
- Being overweight
- Nasal congestion or obstruction
- Large tonsils and/or adenoids, having a “crowded throat”, large tongue or small jaw
- Lung disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure
- Scoliosis or muscle weakness
- Sedating medicines and alcohol
- Hypothyroidism and certain other endocrine (hormonal) disorders
Sleep Apnea has been associated with:
- Heart attacks
- Convulsions
- Memory problems
- Slowed thinking
- Iirritability
- Mood swings
- Depression
- High speed highway crashes