Are Drowsiness and Fatigue Affecting Your Life?
Since most people with sleep apnea don’t know they have it, they also don’t know how much sleep apnea is affecting their quality of life. Sleep apnea takes away your energy, and it can cause numerous health problems that can not only impair your quality of life, they can steal years of your life. Not to mention the expense and time wasted to care for conditions that might be preventable. And sleep apnea can interfere with the meaningful relationships that really make life worth living.
But you don’t have to live with these consequences of sleep apnea. It is treatable, and treatment can help you live your life to the fullest. As the only dedicated dental sleep clinic in the Southern Black Hills our goal is to help you sleep better!
If You Haven’t Got Your Health . . .
Sleep is critical to every aspect of your body’s health, including mental health, cardiovascular health, and metabolic health. Disrupting your body’s normal sleep routine disrupts all your body’s systems, which is why sleep apnea is associated with dozens of serious health problems. Among these are:
Heart disease
Stroke
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Obesity, including unexplained weight gain and inability to lose weight
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease
Memory problems
Cancer
Depression and other mood disorders
Sexual dysfunction
These health conditions are dangerous, even deadly. That’s why people with UNTREATED SLEEP APNEA sleep apnea have a 46% higher risk of premature death. In addition to the risk of early death, people with untreated sleep apnea spend thousands of dollars more each year on healthcare and spend many more hours at the doctor.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a night-time condition that causes the patient to stop breathing at various times throughout the night. Studies have shown that patients usually have pauses in normal breathing hundreds of times each night, each episode lasting up to 30 seconds, if not longer. There are three main types: obstructive, complex, and central. In each type, your breathing stops too long and too often. But the reason why breathing stops depends on the type.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by some sort of blockage that occurs within the airway that impedes the natural flow of breathing. With central sleep apnea (CSA), the problems with breathing throughout the night occur because of miscommunication within the brain. This makes diagnosis even more vital as it’s important to not only know if you have it or not, but it’s crucial to know what type you have so that the treatment prescribed to you works flawlessly.
Sleep Apnea Testing
A sleep study with a sleep clinic (also called a polysomnogram) is the only definitive way to tell whether or not you suffer from sleep apnea, and how severe that apnea might be. Sleep studies can be conducted in a sleep laboratory or at home using an ambulatory sleep study device such as the Nightowl or WatchPat. In either case, the tests are completely painless and they may have you complete two nights. At a sleep lab, the technicians may have you try a CPAP machine to see if that helps you. If you do not want to undergo a study in a lab that may involve a CPAP, then the take-home sleep study may be the better option for you and is likely acceptable to your insurance carrier. The results are analyzed by a sleep physician who will then give a definitive diagnosis. From there, the Doctors at Sleep Better South Dakota can help you to find the treatment that is right for you.
Benefits of Treatment
Sleep apnea may happen while you’re sleeping, but the benefits of treatment last all day. With treatment, you’ll find that you have more energy. You will be less likely to fall asleep during the day at work, in the car, or in front of the TV. Your health will improve. You will find that you are more likely to want to exercise and be better able to exercise. Your lung capacity may improve. You’ll find you’re less tempted by junk food, and you’ll find it’s easier to lose weight. You’ll also find you’re less irritable and better able to enjoy life.
And when it is time to go to sleep, you’ll love going to bed with your partner. Both of you will be able to sleep through the night, with no elbows thrown!
How do I know if I have Sleep Apnea?
With all the potential damage sleep apnea could be doing, it’s also scary that 80% or more of people with sleep apnea don’t know they have it.
There is only one way to diagnose sleep apnea: a sleep test. Would you like to learn whether you have sleep apnea in Custer, Hot Springs, Rapid City, or Spearfish? Please click here (like to schedule a consultation) to learn more or call 605-389-3289 today for an appointment with a sleep dentist at the Sleep Better South Dakota.