Monday, January 4, 2010

Sleep Apnea and Heart Related Issues


People may be unaware that medical research is beginning to show a very strong association between sleep apnea and heart related issues, such as strokes and heart attacks. Most people are aware that smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol can have a great impact on your heart, but they fail to realize that sleeping disorders can have the same devastating effect.

One of the methods of effectively treating sleep disorders is the use of a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device, commonly known as a CPAP Machine. The masks create pressure, allowing you to breath normally without obstructing your airway. Abnormal breathing can cause oxygen levels in the brain to drop and cause adrenaline and hormones to rise. The rise in hormones and adrenalin can cause high blood pressure and heart irregularities which can result in a heart attack.

In addition to heart related issues it's worthwhile to note that sleep apnea has been linked to teeth grinding, what is medically known as bruxism. Teeth grinding can cause a variety of problems such as jaw and teeth damage, pain fracturing, tooth loosening, or loss of teeth. Jaw damage can result in hearing loss, and can cause or worsen TMJ. Facial appearance can also be affected by severe teeth grinding.

"The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and sleep bruxism is usually related to an arousal response. The ending of an apneic event may be accompanied by a number of mouth phenomena, such as snoring, gasps, mumbles, and teeth grinding," said Shyam Subramanian, MD, FCCP, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. "Men typically have more severe sleep apnea, and perhaps may have more arousal responses, which may explain the higher prevalence of teeth grinding in men. Besides, men characteristically tend to report more symptoms of sleep apnea than women, such as snoring, loud grunting, and witnessed apneas."

If you are looking for solutions to sleep apnea you can find a variety of CPAP and Sleep Apnea machines at www.cpapmart.com

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