07 Sep How Untreated Sleep Apnea Affects Your Health
Sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that causes patients to stop breathing for brief periods while they sleep, deprives your body of oxygen, which affects your health and wellbeing. Some of the health effects of untreated sleep apnea are serious, even life-threatening.
Fortunately, you don’t have to suffer with the symptoms and effects of sleep apnea. Treatment options, such as oral appliance therapy, are available from your dentist. If you have sleep apnea, it’s essential that you explore these treatment options to protect your health.
The Consequences Of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea occurs when a patient’s airway is repeatedly blocked, usually when the soft tissues at the back of the throat go slack and creep over the airway opening. Sleep is disrupted as a result, and the body doesn’t get as much oxygen as it needs. Patients with sleep apnea may experience:
- Loud snoring or noticeable pauses in breathing (detected by a sleeping partner)
- Daytime drowsiness
- Mood changes
- Morning headaches or sore throats
- Attention difficulties
If you have symptoms of sleep apnea, you should complete a sleep study to confirm the diagnosis. Beyond the symptoms that people with sleep apnea experience, there are also a number of serious health conditions that appear to have a correlation with this sleep disorder. They include:
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Heart disease
There is also some evidence that people with sleep apnea are at greater risk of sudden unexplained death. As you can see, eliminating the conditions that contribute to sleep apnea is tremendously valuable. Your dentist may be able to help.
Effective Sleep Apnea Treatment Can Restore Your Health
Sleep apnea treatment eliminates the airway blockages that cause the apneic episodes. One approach, known as continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, forces air into the airway in order to keep it open. However, patients have many complaints about CPAP and often abandon it.
Oral appliance therapy can be a good alternative. This approach requires the patient to wear an appliance that is similar to a mouthguard in order to keep the jaw in a forward position during sleep. This keeps the soft tissues away from the airway opening so that they can’t block it.
Oral appliances fit entirely within the mouth and they’re custom-designed for maximum patient comfort. Adherence rates to this treatment approach are high.
If you have not yet investigated your sleep apnea treatment options, we encourage you to schedule a consultation at Crosspointe Sleep Solutions. We can help to restore both your health and your quality of life.