Now here is something that is bound to be controversial as far as understanding sleep apnea. We all know that sleep apnea and snorers have been found to be a health hazard since it is associated with the heart and the breathing problems leading to snoring. But apparently, this study that was made in Britain claimed otherwise. In fact it can even prolong life which is really quite a shocking revelation.

Peretz Lavie, who carried out the research at the Lloyd Rigler Sleep Apnoea Research Laboratory, in Haifa, Israel, said that the results were “astonishing”.

“We know that sleep apnoea does reduce life expectancy for people under the age of 50, so to find that it could actually prolong life for elderly patients was quite a shock.”

Dr Lavie speculates that the reason for the findings could be the way the body responds to a lack of blood to major organs, which can be caused when breathing stops.

(Source) Telegraph.co.uk breathing problems, Health Issues, heart, How to sleep better, shocking revelation, sleep, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Cures, Sleep Issues, SLEEP News, sleep-apnoea, Snoring

Many of us tend are not aware that while we are sleeping. Among this is this common sleep disorder we hear as sleep apnoea. For the benefit of the people who are unaware of what sleep apnoea is, it is a sleeping disorder caused by abnormalities in breathing while a person is in this meditative stage.

We all tend to overlook this part of our everyday living. Usually, sleep disorders can be attributed to various reasons. Some of them can be traced towards stress, while others coming from hereditary reasons.

As explained by Wikipedia:

Sleep apnea or sleep apnoea is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. These episodes, called apneas (literally, “without breath”), each last long enough so one or more breaths are missed, and occur repeatedly throughout sleep. The standard definition of any apneic event includes a minimum 10 second interval between breaths, with either a neurological arousal (3-second or greater shift in EEG frequency, measured at C3, C4, O1, or O2), or a blood oxygen desaturation of 3-4 percent or greater, or both arousal and desaturation. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called polysomnogram.

Clinically significant levels of sleep apnea are defined as 5 events of any type or greater per hour of sleep time (from the polysomnogram). There are two distinct forms of sleep apnea: Central and Obstructive. Breathing is interrupted by the lack of effort in Central Sleep Apnea; in Obstructive Sleep Apnea, breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airflow despite effort. In Mixed Sleep Apnea, there is a transition from central to obstructive features during the events themselves.

Regardless of type, the individual with sleep apnea is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing, even upon awakening. Sleep apnea is recognized as a problem by others witnessing the individual during episodes or is suspected because of its effects on the body (sequelae). Symptoms may be present for years, even decades without identification, during which time the sufferer may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance. The definitive diagnosis of sleep apnea is made by polysomnography. – Sleep Apnea