Sleep apnea or sleep apnoea is the condition which causes sufferers to stop breathing often during sleep. These pauses can last anything from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. There are three kinds of sleep apnea Central, Obstructive and Mixed or Complex Apnea. Obstructive apnea is by the most common form and it normally comes about in overweight, middle-aged men.

The most frequently recommended method of overcoming obstructive apnea is weight loss, but as this is not simple for most people, the most common remedy is CPAP, which means the wearing of an oxygen mask.

The difficulty with sleep apnea is that the lack of breath means that the blood and the brain are starved of oxygen. When the level of oxygen in the brain falls to a particular degree, it wakes the body up to do something about it. However, the heart normally beats more slowly at night, giving it a rest, but as the oxygen level in the blood drops, the heart will pump harder to get more blood and oxygen to the areas it is most needed.

Another consequence is that people suffer from fatigue during the day, which leads to falling asleep at the wheel and accidents at the place of work. In fact, sufferers of apnea are three times more likely to have an accident than normal.

Sufferers of apnea hardly ever wake up when their brain gets them breathing again, but it can be very distressing for their partners. My wife thought that I had passed away when she first became aware of my difficulty with obstructive sleep apnea and the spluttering back to a state of breathing resembles a drowning man coming up for the second time.

Other problems that can occur after a night of poor sleep are those linked with tiredness: irritability, mood swings, bad concentration, headaches, excessive anxiety, depression, acid reflux, nocturnal sweating, loss of sex drive and elevated heart rate at night.

Most instances of obstructive apnea can be vastly improved by a loss in weight. In fact, a ten percent loss of weight can produce a twenty-five percent improvement in apnea. Moreover, anything that relaxes the muscles should be avoided – especially alcohol. Stopping smoking can help as well.

Mechanical means of improving the condition are raising the head, so that the weight on your neck hangs down towards the chest rather than pressing down on the windpipe. Sleeping on your side can help as well for the same reason.

Black African males and Indian (from India) males are almost twice as much at risk of developing apnea as Caucasians. About 4% of Caucasian males and 2% of Caucasian females suffer from sleep apnea. A startling statistic is that the same percentage of Chinese men and women suffer from apnea as Caucasians. This is surprising because the Chinese are not usually as chunky as Caucasians.

The terms ‘apnea’ and ‘apnoea’ mean the same; the former being the American spelling and the latter being the English spelling.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently busy with wholesale first aid kits. If you have an interest in RC vehicles, please go over to our website now at First Aid Courses Online.