Thursday, 17 May 2018

Sleep Apnea Head Position Information

By Joshua Reynolds


A sleep disorder that is characterized by interrupted breathing while sleeping is known as sleep apnea. When the condition goes on untreated, the patient experiences continuous breath interruptions the whole night. It has been revealed that sometimes within a single night a patient may stop breathing severally. As a result of these interruptions, the body and the brain is deprived of oxygen it requires to perform normal functions. This is worth knowing about sleep apnea head position.

Research has found two main types of this condition to exist. The two types are obstructive sleep apnea, abbreviated as (OSA) and central sleep apnea. OSA is the most common of these two types. This condition is caused when the airway in the patient is blocked. This occurs when soft tissues in the back side of a throat collapse when one is sleeping.

Central sleep apnea, on the other hand, is brought about by complications in the brain control centre. The appropriate signals sent by the brain to cause muscle contraction and relaxation for breathing to occur fail to be sent. This occurs when the part of the brain controlling breathing is unstable. This may occur due to a number of causes.

First, a person must be having certain predisposing risk factors which make them vulnerable to the problem. But this disorder can affect any person no matter their sex or age. For example, at the moment there are lots of kids suffering from this condition is the United States. GERD, being overweight, having a big neck, being over 40 years, nasal obstruction, family history, and being male among others are some of the risk factors.

From research, deductions show that in comparison to women, more men suffer from the condition. Being overweight is another key risk factor. Weight correction helps to manage and/or eliminate the condition in many cases. Men with a neck size of 17 inches or more are more likely to contract the condition. Nevertheless, people with a 16-inch neck size are also at higher risk of contraction in women.

Sleep apnea is not a pleasant condition and often comes with many more serious conditions. Some of the conditions it leads to eventually include high blood pressure, heart failure, depression, headaches, diabetes, stroke, and worsening ADHD among others. If the condition remains untreated for long, it may cause academic underachievement in adolescents and children. Poor performance in daily activities also gets diminished in adults both at work and at home.

Several treatment options are available for this condition. For those who are experiencing moderate or severe forms of the condition, wearing a CPAP equipment may be recommendable. This equipment is worn when one is sleeping and helps to deliver air to the lungs at a slightly higher pressure than air in the atmosphere. The high pressure assists in keeping airways open, preventing snoring and apnea.

Other known approaches can be used to deal with the condition. For example, proper positioning of the body and head during sleeping may help keep the airways open. Severe forms of the condition can be treated through surgery. The aim of the surgery may be to create new airways, reposition the jaws or remove some excess tissue.




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