Sleep Apnea:The Deadly Disorder

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 at 4:17 PM

One of the most common health disorders among people around the world is “sleep apnea”. In its simplest sense ‘sleep apnea’ can be understood as one or more pauses in normal breathing. In many cases the shallow breathing during sleep is also termed as ‘sleep apnea’.

A pause in normal breathing during sleep may have an undefined duration. Meaning thereby, the pause could be for a few seconds only or it can even stretch up to few minutes. Similarly, the rate of occurrence of such pauses during sleep may also vary up to great ranges. It could be five times per hour or even up to 30 times an hour. Normal breathing generally starts immediately after such a pause but this re-start could generate a snoring or choking sound as well.

Once a person is a victim of ‘sleep apnea’ this disorder converts in to a chronic disorder slowly over the years. In majority of the cases people never realize that the ‘sleep apnea disorder’ has crept in their lives.

Research shows that among people suffering from sleep apnea disorder repeated pauses during sleep happens at least three or four nights every week. It is difficult to have a deep sleep for such people. Pause in breathing or shallow breathing during sleep repeatedly converts the deep sleep in to light sleep in nights.

Poor quality sleep during night affects a person in many ways. One of the most significant impacts of this disorder is the tiredness, fatigue, and uneasiness the very next day.

It is not an uncommon observation at places that people feel sleepy during the day hours. This excessive daytime sleepiness is a very common effect of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea largely remains undiagnosed and people continue suffering from this disorder lifelong. During every routine check-up it is even more difficult to detect this disorder for doctors. Sleep apnea cannot be diagnosed with any blood test.

It is even more surprising that majority of the people across the globe does not even know that they are suffering from sleep apnea. Reason being, it happens only during the sleep. However, a close family member or life partner may be in a better position to identify the sleep apnea disorder for the first time.