What is sleep apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea happens when your airway repeatedly narrows or closes while you sleep. Each pause in breathing briefly lowers oxygen and jolts your brain awake, often without you realizing it.
Why it matters
Those repeated pauses can happen dozens of times an hour. Even if you never remember waking up, your sleep gets broken into pieces, and your body spends the night under strain.
Untreated sleep apnea is linked with daytime sleepiness, drowsy-driving crashes, high blood pressure, heart rhythm problems such as atrial fibrillation, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. It’s very common: researchers estimate that close to a billion adults worldwide have it, and most don’t know.
Who’s more likely to have it
- People who snore loudly or have been told they stop breathing at night
- Adults with excess weight, especially around the neck
- Men, and women as they get older
- People with high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation or type 2 diabetes
- People with a family history of sleep apnea, a narrow airway or large tonsils
Sleep apnea can affect anyone, including people who are slim and active.
Common signs
- Loud snoring
- Pauses in breathing, gasping or choking at night
- Unrefreshing sleep
- Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
- Morning headaches
- Dry mouth or sore throat on waking
- Waking up to urinate at night
- Poor focus, irritability or low mood
Drowsy while driving? If you’ve nodded off behind the wheel, stop driving and get evaluated promptly.
The good news: it’s very treatable
Testing is simpler than it used to be, and many people can do it at home. PAP therapy is the most effective treatment for moderate to severe sleep apnea.
Ready for better sleep?
Book a first visit by video. We’ll review your symptoms, decide whether a home sleep test makes sense, and map out next steps.
Book your sleep evaluationOr call (901) 560-5473