Do you snore? How about feeling tired in the morning or drowsy during the day? If you do, you may have sleep apnea, and you’d better a handle on it because this very common condition can destroy your health.
Sleep apnea occurs when the fleshy tissues at the back of the throat relax and block the airway, causing you to stop breathing. The brain, sensing oxygen deprivation, sends signals that wake you up just enough to take a breath. This not only makes getting a good night’s sleep impossible, but also leads to a number of very serious problems. Sleep apnea causes significant drops in blood oxygen levels and wreaks havoc with normal metabolism. It triples risk of hypertension, more than doubles risk of stroke, and quadruples risk of arrhythmia. It is also closely linked with obesity and insulin resistance, and a five-fold increased risk of diabetes.
Fortunately, sleep apnea is easy to treat. I used to snore like a freight train until I discovered I had sleep apnea. Now, I use an automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) machine. This device gently blows a stream of air through a small mask worn over the nose that prevents the tissues in the throat from collapsing and ensures that oxygen levels remain in the optimal range throughout the night. It has changed my life. I sleep like a baby and wake up rested and invigorated. My wife loves it too—no more snoring or worrisome episodes when I would literally stop breathing.
At the clinic, we screen patients we suspect of having sleep apnea with an inexpensive overnight test that records pulse, blood oxygen levels, and oxygen flow. It doesn’t require a visit to a special sleep lab, where you’re hooked up to all manner of sensors and monitors and observed all night long. It can be done in your own bed or, for out-of-towners, in your hotel room. If a test is positive for sleep apnea, the patient is prescribed an APAP or CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine and instructed in its use by our sleep specialist.
Most insurance plans, including Medicare, reimburse for APAP/CPAP, as this therapy has been shown in numerous scientific studies to improve sleep, energy, memory, mood, and reduce risk of serious disease.
