By Dave Warner
You toss, you turn, and you lie awake in the dead of night.
It can be annoying, irritating, and tiring. It can also lead to some very serious health issues, like heart disease.
Research suggests that sleep apnea -- be it the more common obstructive type that involves the relaxation of your throat muscles, or the central type that has to do with your brain’s regulation of breathing – is the main culprit.
Bottom line: researchers at the West Virginia University School of Medicine say that getting less than five hours of sleep a night doubles your chance of heart disease.
While it may feel as though you’re alone at night when you twist and turn, the truth is that you have plenty of company. Some 15 million Americans are thought to have the obstructive type of sleep apnea.
Doctors also find that many who already have heart disease are among those who suffer from sleep apnea, and that they often have high blood pressure and may suffer from atrial fibrillation.
Here’s what happens if you have obstructive apnea, and you try to sleep: your air passage becomes blocked during sleep. One result can be that you snore loudly. Overweight people are at particular risk for apnea.
One of the issues is that the disorder is difficult to diagnose. There are no blood tests for it, and victims often don’t know it themselves. Why? Because they’re asleep when it strikes. For many, the disorder is first noticed by a partner or a family member.
But if you ignore it, and do nothing about it, the consequences can be grave. Your blood pressure can rise, you face a greater risk of heart disease, a heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Moreover, your heart can begin beating irregularly.
What you can do about sleep apnea:
- There are many steps you can take if you suspect, or know, you have sleep apnea. Here are some key ones:
- See your family doctor, although it’s possible that you’ll end up with a specialist.
- Avoid drinking alcohol close to the time you’ll be going to sleep. Drinking can make it more difficult for your throat to stay open while you sleep.
- If you’re overweight, lose some pounds.
- Try sleeping on your side.
- Ask your doctor about nasal sprays that might help you.
- Quit smoking.
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