Sleep Disorders

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), insufficient sleep in America is considered a public health problem.

That means it is a very serious problem, and why is that the case? 

The United States government and the healthcare community now understand the dangers of untreated sleep disorders:

Vehicle accidents

Work-related accidents

Other associated medical conditions, such as, stroke, hypertension, Type II diabetes, heart disease, sexual disfunction and early death.

But, before we can talk about some of the more serious issues related to sleep disorders, we need to understand that snoring can be a serious sign of these conditions. 

Most of us might know of someone that snores or may have been told by others that we snore.  Snoring is simply the noise we make when our airway- the passage where air flows in and out while we breathe- becomes obstructed.

It may happen to some of us when we have a few drinks or when we are so tired that our body relaxes to the point that the airway may become partially obstructed.  These situations may not happen often enough for snoring to become a problem.

However, regular snoring may be a sign of a serious problem, because that is a sign that our airways are obstructed most of the time. 

Ongoing, frequent and loud snoring then leads to enough disruptions that our body never enters the deeper stages of sleep. This might be the reason why you may feel tired throughout the day, no matter how many hours you slept the night before.

So, as your body becomes regularly tired, we gradually become more susceptible to nodding off at the wheel, while we are at work or simply watching a movie at home or the movie theater- basically, our bodies are hungry for a good and restful sleep since the snoring may be constantly preventing us from getting quality sleep. 

These sounds, that are caused by the vibration created from the partially obstructed airway, can also potentially lead to more serious problems, such as plaque buildup in our arteries to a potentially deadly condition known as Sleep Apnea. 

Unlike snoring, where the airway is partially obstructed, sleep apnea is a condition where the airway is completely blocked for at least 10 seconds or more, many times throughout the night. In fact, in some cases, it can be up to hundreds of these 10-second episodes, with no oxygen to our vital organs, per hour!

That's right!  Many patients suffer from these complete blockages. You can imagine why sleep apnea could cause such a toll on our bodies:

• Feeling excessively tired throughout the day
• Falling asleep as soon as we lay on our beds
• Developing headaches and unknown conditions 

that you can't get help for

• Not remembering our dreams at night (that's because we never reach the deeper stages of sleep)

But, there is more. Sleep apnea has been linked to premature death and illness. In fact, chronic diseases associated with sleep apnea include: obesity, cardiovascular disease, depressions, diabetes, and others.

If you suspect that you or your loved ones may be suffering from a sleeping disorder, click here to make an appointment with us today!