Health Problems Connected to Sleep Apnea

If you have sleep apnea, you stop breathing while you are asleep. Your brain reacts to this by waking you long enough to breathe. Unfortunately, once you fall asleep, the process begins again.

These pauses can occur 15 times an hour if you have mild sleep apnea but may happen 30 times an hour or more if yours is severe. Surprisingly, many people with sleep apnea are not aware they’re waking up hundreds of times during an 8-hour sleep cycle.

Ear, nose, and throat surgeon Dr. Phillip Ho and his team at Silicon Valley ENT & Sinus Center in Los Gatos, California, specialize in diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea (the most common type).

Read what this specialty team says about sleep apnea and how it can affect your overall health.

Understanding sleep apnea

The three types of sleep apnea have various underlying causes:

Obstructive sleep apnea 

This most common type of sleep apnea occurs when muscles and other tissue structures in the mouth or throat relax excessively during sleep, blocking the airway.

Symptoms include loud snoring, gasping for air during sleep, and sometimes-debilitating daytime fatigue.

Causes:

• Excess weight or obesity
• Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
• Structural abnormalities in the mouth (soft palate), jaw, or throat
• Smoking or alcohol consumption
• Nasal congestion

Central sleep apnea 

Central sleep apnea (CSA), the second most common type, happens when the brain fails to activate the muscles that control breathing.

CSA may be linked to neurological conditions (e.g., Parkinson’s disease), chronic diseases such as congestive heart failure, or medications that can suppress the respiratory system (e.g., opioids).

Complex sleep apnea

Complex sleep apnea syndrome is the third type, essentially a combination of OSA and CSA.  

Health problems connected to sleep apnea

Your body requires restorative sleep every night to perform crucial tasks such as tissue repair and rebuilding, regulating metabolism, and reinforcing the cardiovascular and immune systems.  

Lack of restful sleep and repeated changes in blood oxygen levels can cause a range of health issues, including:

Cardiovascular complications

Sleep apnea is strongly linked to heart disease. Repetitious drops in oxygen levels during sleep increase the risk of hypertension, arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), heart attack, and stroke.

Metabolic disorders

Sleep apnea has been linked to type 2 diabetes and other metabolic conditions. It can also contribute to obesity by disrupting the production of leptin and ghrelin, hormones that regulate hunger and appetite.

Mental health issues

Restless or poor sleep related to sleep apnea increases your risk of depression, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and problems with memory. Sleep apnea may also increase your risk of dementia.

Other health complications related to sleep apnea include:

• Chronic fatigue
• Increased accident risk
• Respiratory complications during surgery (due to anesthesia or sedatives)
• Liver problems (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease)
• Weakened immune function

The good news is that sleep apnea is manageable, and effective treatment can reduce your risks of health complications. 

Treating sleep apnea

Following an evaluation to diagnose the underlying cause of sleep apnea, Dr. Ho may recommend:

• Weight loss
• Smoking cessation
• Reducing alcohol intake
• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, in which air is pumped steadily through the nose to keep airways open
• Treating underlying disorders that are causing nasal congestion

Should conservative measures fail to control your sleep apnea, Dr. Ho may recommend surgical interventions to remove or reposition tissue that are blocking airflow.

Don’t ignore sleep apnea. Schedule an appointment with our office today by calling or requesting one online.