Breathing Disorders While Sleeping

Snoring at high decibels is the most common breathing disorder. The problem is prevalent in people of all ages. Since snoring is caused by obstructions in the airways patients of asthma or other lung diseases also Suffer from this breathing disorder.

What is Sleep?

In order to realize the importance of uninterrupted breathing even during sleep we must understand the necessity of sleep. The exact methodology of restoration of our energy and functional abilities with sleep has not been clearly understood. Sleep is said to shut or slow down the various body systems and yet something refills them with energy or life once we awake. The mystery of these restorative powers of sleep is indeed a wonder. A simple everyday activity we indulge in all our lives has such an important role to play. So anything that disrupts the sleep and its restorative powers does not go down well with our system.

What Happens?

While most bodily functions either slow down or shut off during sleep the cardiac muscles continue to pump life giving blood to every organ. The blood carries oxygen to all parts of the body in a non stop logistic operation.

The lungs, therefore, have to continue the respiration process even as we sleep. Due to physical obstructions in the airways in the mouth, nose the wind pipe or even the passage to the stomach the respiration has to slow down. When this happens, levels of carbon dioxide builds up in our body and the heart runs out of oxygen. To obviate life threatening conditions of toxins in the system signals go out the brain to activate the muscles and arouse us from sleep or force in oxygen. This causes enforced respiration past the blocked airways and soon a comfortable level of oxygen is built up in our body. If the airways are not sufficiently activated a condition called apnea builds up leading to cessation of breathing. In some cases it might manifest high blood pressures and other cardiovascular problems even leading to cardiac arrests.

	Random Sleeping Tip
Every person has a very different sleep pattern, there are people who are very sensitive to sound while they are sleeping. If you have a partner who has a snoring problem that can really affect your sleeping pattern. It is important that you get your partner checked out for the snoring problem so that this issue resolves, but if this cannot be resolved on an urgent basis, then you must switch the room so that your sleep is not disturbed and you wake up fresh during morning.

Affected Population

Breathing disorders in sleep are prevalent in all age groups. In infants it is a serious condition and calls for immediate intervention of the specialist in pediatrics. In the forty plus age group it is a common problem. Surprisingly it afflicts more men than women. In older age groups especially people in their sixties both men and women are equally prone to have sleep related breathing problems.

Treatment

There is no prescribed fool proof treatment. However, it has been found that since obesity aggravates the problem a gradual loss of weight restores the metabolism of the body to optimum levels and there is a definite relief to the patient. In most other cases minor changes to sleeping patterns and styles can obviate the breathing problems. Patients who stopped sleeping on their backs and slept on their sides have improved sleep with little or no breathing problems.

Conclusion

While most sleep related breathing disorders are not life threatening they are serious enough to merit immediate attention.

	More Articles
1. What is Insomnia? What is Insomnia? Any person who tumbles and turns at night no matter how he tries to get some sleep will surely be grumpy, unfocused and disorderly the next morning. [...]
2. Sleep Apnea - Asurprisingly Common Childhood Disorder Sleep Apnea - Asurprisingly Common Childhood Disorder Introduction Sleep Apnea is a very common sleep breathing disorder. The most common phenomenon is loud [...]
3. Sleep Disorders in Babies Learning About Sleep Disorders in Babies Two major causes of sleep disorders in babies are behavioral problems and parasomnias. Sleep disorders in babies are [...]
4. Sleepwalking: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention Sleepwalking: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention Diagnosis In the vast majority of cases, Sleepwalking is identified by the family or bed partner of the [...]

Bookmark This Page:

Send Page to a Friend

Resources:

Sleeping Basics Types of Sleeping Disorders Snoring Sleeping Problems More Articles on Sleeping

About Us | Contact Us | Link to Us