Sleep Apnea
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. While you sleep, an apnea occurs when breathing stops for ten seconds or more placing significant strain on your cardiovascular system and heart. These disturbances during sleep prevent air from reaching your lungs. They may occur 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.
Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep. When your breathing pauses or becomes shallow, you’ll often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep.
As a result, the quality of your sleep is poor, which makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is a leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness.
Is it Common?
Snoring & Obstructive Sleep Apnea are quite common. These two conditions affect millions of people, and are potentially life threatening, being associated with higher risks of strokes and heart attacks.
Symptoms
- loud snoring
- waking up with headaches, dry mouth or choking sensations
- restless or perspiring sleep
- fatigue or depression
- frequent bathroom trips during the night
- having trouble concentrating or staying awake
Treatment Options
Treatment Options for Snoring & Obstructive Sleep Apnea may include Oral Appliance Therapy, a bulky CPAP medical unit that sits beside you during sleep, delivering continuous positive air pressure through a facemask or nasal tube attached to a pump. The CPAP requires a lifetime commitment and proper adjustment to achieve maximum benefits.
Oral Appliance Therapy
Drs. Bhagat and Dureja preferred and proven method for treating sleep apnea – utilizes a device specially designed to reposition the jaw and tongue forward during sleep, thus expanding the airway for easier flow.