What is Sleep Apnea, and Who Has It?
Sleep Apnea is a common problem that many folks in Atlanta (Vinings area) don’t realize they have. When we think sleep apnea, we think of that overweight, 65 yr old relative who has diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. While those conditions (co-morbidities or Signs & Symptoms) develop in many cases, they are the result, rather than the cause of Sleep Apnea.
Your jaw joint is different from any other joint in the body in that it can rotate and slide. When we are awake and upright, most of us have our teeth slightly separated and our lower jaw slides slightly forward. This helps to keep our tongue out of our airway.
However, when we go to sleep at night, everything relaxes. This allows your lower jaw to open and drop back which places your tongue in the middle of your airway. How far your tongue falls back into your throat is the difference between snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and that difference may only be millimeters.
A Closed Airway Leads To Sleep Apnea
In normal breathing, the tongue is forward and off of the back of the throat keeping the airway open and allowing unrestricted breathing as indicated by the blue arrow.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea, occurs when the tongue and tissues of the throat fall back into the throat closing the airway completely so no air can pass. This is known as an apneic event. Your body responds the same way it responds to choking because your brain does not know when you will get your next breath: Your adrenaline kicks in just like it does when that idiot pulls out in front of you in traffic. Your heart rate increases dramatically, and blood pressure goes up. Cortisol is also dumped into your blood stream causing all of the energy (sugar) stored in your liver to be released into your blood stream. This becomes a “Fight or Flight” response. While this was a good thing for the caveman’s survival, it is bad for sleep.
When the body is finally aroused enough to open the airway and allow oxygen back into the lungs, things can start to settle down again. Heart rate and blood pressure can go back toward normal levels. The excess blood sugar is cleaned up by insulin moving it out of the blood and into cells.
If an individual has Sleep Apnea, it is not unusual for this to happen more than 100 times per night. Could you imagine choking 100 times or more during the day? Think about how tired and worn out you would feel. Now can you understand why you are sleepy, tired, unrefreshed, and irritable when you wake? Click to see more of the signs and symptoms of Sleep Apnea.
Sleep Apnea is a common problem that many folks in Atlanta (Vinings are) don’t realize they have. When we think sleep apnea, we think of that overweight, 65 yr old relative who has diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. While those conditions (co-morbidities or Signs & Symptoms) develop in many cases, they are the result, rather than the cause of Sleep Apnea.
Your jaw joint is different from any other joint in the body in that it can rotate and slide. When we are awake and upright, most of us have our teeth slightly separated and our lower jaw slides slightly forward. This helps to keep our tongue out of our airway.
However, when we go to sleep at night, everything relaxes. This allows your lower jaw to open and drop back which places your tongue in the middle of your airway. How far your tongue falls back into your throat is the difference between snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and that difference may only be millimeters.
A Closed Airway Leads To Sleep Apnea
In normal breathing, the tongue is forward and off of the back of the throat keeping the airway open and allowing unrestricted breathing as indicated by the blue arrow.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea, occurs when the tongue and tissues of the throat fall back into the throat closing the airway completely so no air can pass. This is known as an apneic event. Your body responds the same way it responds to choking because your brain does not know when you will get your next breath: Your adrenaline kicks in just like it does when that idiot pulls out in front of you in traffic. Your heart rate increases dramatically, and blood pressure goes up. Cortisol is also dumped into your blood stream causing all of the energy (sugar) stored in your liver to be released into your blood stream. This becomes a “Fight or Flight” response. While this was a good thing for the caveman’s survival, it is bad for sleep.
When the body is finally aroused enough to open the airway and allow oxygen back into the lungs, things can start to settle down again. Heart rate and blood pressure can go back toward normal levels. The excess blood sugar is cleaned up by insulin moving it out of the blood and into cells.
If an individual has Sleep Apnea, it is not unusual for this to happen more than 100 times per night. Could you imagine choking 100 times or more during the day? Think about how tired and worn out you would feel. Now can you understand why you are sleepy, tired, unrefreshed, and irritable when you wake? Click to see more of the signs and symptoms of Sleep Apnea.
How is Sleep Apnea treated?
Call Dr. Joe Hair at 770.433.2414 for a no-cost screening to see how we may help you.
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