If it is true that a man (or a woman for that matter) is known by the friends he or she keeps, the same rule also applies to some disease conditions. Take the example of a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea. This is not only one of the most distressful sleep disorders, but always hand-in-glove with several other ailments, most of which are individually damaging to health.This means to understand obstructive sleep apnea, it is imperative that you realize the existence and role of its close associates as well, or else, you would fail to appreciate the condition in totality and also find it tough to understand the rationale of treatments offered. Let us start at the very beginning.What is sleep apnea?It is a condition characterized by intermittent loss of breath during sleep. A single pause in breathing is for about 10 seconds, and in an hour an individual may suffer 5 to 30 such pauses in breathing. There are three types of sleep apnea, of which obstructive sleep apnea is most common, occurring when there is a complete collapse and obstruction of the upper respiratory tract.How does sleep apnea develop?When snoring is left untreated for a long time, it worsens into sleep apnea. Some of the tell-tale sleep apnea symptoms that force the victim to seek medical treatment include repeated breathlessness during sleep; loud and persistent snoring; rapid weight gain; mood changes including depression, etc. Obstructive sleep apnea: know its dangerous alliesSleep apnea has two very close associations: with body weight and with deviated-septum related snoring. The relationship between sleep apnea and weight gain starts right at the initial stage, when the patient is overweight. Obesity invites snoring that can result in apnea condition; weight gain is one of the main sleep apnea symptoms; continuous disturbance in sleep negatively impacts appetite resulting in weight gain. Weight gain is such an integral part of sleep apnea that without weight loss, no treatment of the condition can begin.The other important association that you should know about is between deviated septum and sleep apnea. Of all the causes of snoring, deviated septum is most common. This relationship has an important contributory role towards treatment of the condition, as along with weight loss, rectification of the deviated septum is also a primary aim of therapy.Obstructive sleep apnea: therapy structureTreatment of this condition largely depends on the severity of the deviation, location of obstruction as well as the health of the patient. If the condition is mild to moderate, doctors may try to treat the condition with some natural sleep remedies like quick weight loss, abstinence from alcohol, altering sleeping posture, etc. They also recommend the use of sleep apnea pillows to keep the head, neck, spine and shoulders in a better aligned position during sleep to ease nasal blockage.However, if none of these non-surgical methodologies work, doctors prefer to perform septoplasty surgery to correct septal deviation. Somnoplasty procedure is another surgery of choice popular with both surgeons and patients alike. Somnoplasty effectiveness as well as its low risk profile has made this surgery extremely common in this country. Both these surgeries are minimally invasive, done with local or general anesthesia and completed within 90 minutes. The side-effects are usually tolerable and can be brought under control with post-surgery medication.
Author Bio:
Marc MacDonald is an independent researcher who has spent considerable time and effort in studying and collating information about health-related concerns, specifically focused on sleep and nutrition.He has written innumerable research reports on particular subjects like somnoplasty, becoming a vegetarian, becoming vegan, eating raw food, deviated nasal septum surgery, snoring remedies, and natural sleep remedies.
