Have you ever been told that you snore? Or do you lie awake at night next to your wheezing partner? Then you or your significant other could be suffering from sleep apnea. We’ll tell you what it is and which 9 diseases it promotes.
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Harmless snoring or sleep disorder?
Snoring or making other breathing noises while sleeping is neither unusual nor alarming. If we sleep on our back, the tongue can more easily slip towards the throat and block the airway, resulting in crackling noises when we take a breath. Colds, respiratory problems or alcohol consumption can also lead to us snoring loudly all night long. However, if the nocturnal breathing noises occur permanently or very frequently, this is referred to as rhonchopathy . With this milder form of the sleep disorder, there can already be a short-term lack of oxygen supply with consequences such as frequent waking up or daytime tiredness.
If, on the other hand, there is heavy snoring with nocturnal breathing pauses, this is known as obstructive sleep apnea . The throat is often so blocked while sleeping that hardly any air can get through or breathing stops completely for 10 to 60 seconds. This reduces the oxygen concentration in the blood, which causes the body to have a faster heartbeat and release stress hormones. Certain factors can promote the occurrence of sleep apnea. These include a prolonged suppository, obesity, polyps in the nose, colds or smoking.
Snoring can promote the development of these 9 diseases
Since a lack of oxygen puts a lot of strain on the body and puts it in a stressful situation every night, health consequences are not long in coming. In addition to symptoms such as daytime tiredness, headaches or difficulty concentrating, there is also a risk of the following diseases and long-term damage if heavy snoring and obstructive sleep apnea are present:
- cardiac arrhythmias
- Right-sided heart failure
- Sudden cardiac death
- Heart attack
- stroke
- Fluid retention in the legs
- erectile dysfunction
- Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
- heartburn
In addition, the risk of accidents in traffic can increase as a result of daytime sleepiness and possibly microsleep.
Tips against snoring
In order not to suffer the consequences of sleep apnea, you should do something about your snoring as soon as possible. It is best to consult the doctor you trust, who can refer you to a sleep specialist. You can use the following tips to fight the nocturnal saw attacks on your own:
