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snoring

Is snoring or sleep apnea life threatening?

Chronic sleep disorders can impact quality of life as well as your health. Chronic sleep disorders such as insomnia, snoring, and sleep apnea can not only disrupt your own sleep, but those who sleep near you also.

Snoring is caused by redundant soft tissue in the airway. These tissues in the nose, mouth, and throat collapse during sleep and partially block the airway. These tissues can vibrate while air is moved during breathing, generating the noise of snoring. Snoring alone is not life-threatening, but many people still desire treatment to decrease the volume of snoring or possibly even eliminate snoring.

Sleep apnea, one of several chronic sleep disorders, has shown to be a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing multiple times each hour during sleep. Breathing may stop because the brain does not properly signal the rest of the body to breathe (central sleep apnea) or because of airway obstruction (obstructive sleep apnea). Sleep apnea may also be due to a combination of these two causes (mixed sleep apnea).

When breathing stops, even for a few seconds, the oxygen levels in the blood decrease; low oxygen level is called hypoxemia. All of the tissues and organs in the body need oxygen, and when levels are low, the heart has to work harder to circulate more blood through the body to deliver oxygen. This leads to elevated blood pressure and added strain on the heart. Over time, high blood pressure can lead to damaged blood vessels in the heart, brain, and throughout the body that can clot causing a heart attack or stroke. Also, the heart muscle may become weak over time, leading to heart failure. Therefore, chronic sleep apnea may increase the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease (heart attack or heart failure) and stroke.

Snoring and, to a greater degree, sleep apnea can cause a decrease in total sleep time and decrease in time spent in deep sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue and irritability. Productivity at work may decrease and family time may be less enjoyed due to fatigue. Excessive daytime sleepiness can be dangerous. If you or someone you know has ever fallen asleep while driving or another activity that may cause harm, please schedule an appointment with a Chicago sleep specialist.

A sleep testing clinic such as Sleep Diagnostics can identify the sleep disorder causing these problems. At Sleep Diagnostics, an overnight sleep study (polysomnogram) is performed in luxury hotels throughout Chicago the suburbs to provide a secure, comfortable environment for natural sleep. The Advanced Center for Specialty Care provides sleep apnea treatment in Chicago to reduce or eliminate symptoms and future problems of sleep apnea.
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