Obstructive Sleep Apnea

It is a common and serious sleep disorder that causes you to stop breathing during sleep.
An apnea (a temporary pause in breathing) is caused when the tissue in the back of the throat collapses.

• The muscles of the upper airway relax when you fall asleep. If you sleep on your back, gravity can cause the tongue to fall back. This narrows the airway, reducing the amount of air reaching your lungs.
• When this happens, you may snore loudly or make choking noises as you try to breathe. Your body and brain become oxygen-deprived and you may wake up. This may happen a few times a night, or in more severe cases, several hundred times a night.

Sleep apnea can make you wake up in the morning, feeling tired or un-refreshed even though you have had a full night's sleep. During the day, you may feel fatigued, drowsy, have difficulty concentrating or even fall asleep unintentionally.

This is because your body is waking up numerous times throughout the night, even though you might not be aware of such awakenings.

The lack of oxygen your body receives can have long-term negative consequences for your health such as

• Heart Diseases
• Stroke (Paralysis)
• High Blood Pressure
• Chronic Kidney Diseases
• Pre-Diabetes & Diabetes
• Recurrent Irregular Heart Beats

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is the frontline treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and is recommended for all cases.
It's a lifestyle change and works best when used every night, for the entire time you are sleeping and even whilst napping.

CPAP can prevent or reverse serious consequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Consistent treatment has many health benefits like

• Reducing the risk of stroke
• Improving your diabetes control
• Restoring your normal sleep pattern
• Reducing the risk of a heart disease
• Reducing or eliminating your snoring
• Reducing your daytime tiredness
• Improving your ability to think, concentrate and make decisions
• Helping you become a safer driver by reducing your daytime fatigue
• Reducing medical expenses (treating complications of un-treated Sleep Apnea), even when you factor in the cost of CPAP