Sleep Apnoea And Being Overweight
10:48 pm in Weight Problems by seph
As we grow older we put on weight. The numbers of individuals that snore and suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea also increase as we get older. Snoring and being obese are highly predictive risk indicators or sleep apnoea.
Snoring alone may not be such an issue if you sleep on your own. But if you are certain that you snore, you think that you are overweight, and you often feel tired in the daytime, then you must get yourself checked out for obstructive sleep apnoea. A good place to start is by taking an Epworth Sleepiness Scale test. This can be found online, try www.somnowell.com, and is an easy test that will measure your daytime sleepiness.
If you do have sleep apnoea then it’ll range all the way from either mild to moderate, or serious. If not treated obstructive sleep apnoea is understood to increase the chance of stroke, high blood pressure, and heart attack. Some studies have estimated that a person’s lifespan is decreased by 10 years and they’ve got a 30% greater likelihood of dying prematurely.
Snoring and sleep apnoea are very closely related. They could be thought of as the same condition but at different places on a sliding scale. Snoring is due to a decrease in the size of the airway. This means the air has to go faster through the narrowed airway. The soft tissues vibrate and create the snoring sound. With sleep apnoea the narrowed airway collapses and no air passes through. This causes the sufferer to stop breathing and puts the body under considerable strain as oxygen levels drop, blood pressure rises, and the bodies emergency system has to get the individual breathing again.
Putting on weight can cause extra weight round the neck that may trigger the change from a narrowed airway to a collapsed airway. A mandibular advancement splint like the Somnowell can be worn in the nighttime to gently hold the lower jaw forward. This is a well proved treatment for sleep apnoea that works by keeping the airway open while asleep.
Loran Simon is a director at Somnowell. The Somnowell is the first chrome cobalt oral device utilized in the professional management of sleep apnoea. The Somnowell is considered by many to be the leading oral device for the handling of obstructive sleep apnoea.
