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Obstructive Sleep Apnea

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Certainly, sleep is an integral part of your life, and getting enough of sleep is just as important as consuming water and food. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, on average, most adults require 7 to 9 hours of sleep, and children and teens need about 9.5 hours of sleep in order to function; however, many sleeping disorders may interfere with our health and affect our daily lives in a negative way — by making us more tired, sleepy, and less alert. One example of such disorder would be — obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleeping disorder which causes a disruption in person’s breathing patterns during sleep due to blocked upper airways, which include nose, throat, and mouth, …show more content…
Such symptoms include: snoring, gasping or choking at night, morning headaches, decreased alertness, sore throat, mood changes, memory loss, and excessive sleepiness not explained by any other factors. If a person experiences any of those symptoms, it is important to visit a doctor, who will check for signs, and eventually may send you to a sleep specialist. Some of the signs most commonly present in sleep apnea would include: high blood pressure, obesity, frequent urination during the night, large overbite. In particular, high blood pressure would be the result of a lack of oxygen in your blood due to obstructed upper airways. Having not enough oxygen in your blood, will send a signal to the brain to wake you up, and then cause a spike in blood pressure and a resistance in your blood vessels; as a result, your body will get used to this condition, and even when you are breathing at a normal rate, your blood pressure will remain high. Also, for the same reason, a person may experience morning headaches. Furthermore, people who maintain a healthy weight are less likely to have sleep apnea, thus being overweight or obese is another important sign to take into account. When you are overweight or obese, you have more fatty tissues in your body, and when there is a build up of a tissue around the neck and throat, in their relaxed state during the sleep, they may fall back, thus causing an obstruction, leading to sleep apnea. Therefore, a build up of a fatty tissue inside your throat or neck will contribute to a greater neck circumference, another important sign to check

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