A snoring is more than an annoying noise that can be a warning sign of sleep apnea. A well-known consequence of the lack of sleep, is now found in patients with cardiovascular risk or association with cognitive impairment in children. Sleep apnea is a disease that is identified by the loud snoring of sufferers. The reason is that breathing pauses occur during sleep, which can be followed by small periods of awakening, called arousals. As a result, there is daytime sleepiness due to lack of restful sleep, which in some cases leads to chronic illness.
Lack of sleep produces constant tiredness, especially if kept for long periods of time, the temptation to doze off at any place and situation, concentration problems and memory loss, irritability, headache, decrease in work performance, in addition to the risk of all types of accidents. But the problems do not end there. Recent studies of sleep apnea associated with increased risk in patients with cardiovascular disease and cognitive disorders in children.
Public Health Problem
Lack of sleep causes fatigue, concentration problems, irritability and headache.
Sleep apnea, also known as apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS), should be considered a public health problem. Not only by the weight of the consequences of the lack of sleep (SAHS patients are between 7 and 10 times greater risk of traffic accidents and higher proportion of accidents at work and home) but by the gradual degradation of quality of life of those affected when the disease is not checked on time.
However, it should be clear that snoring is not always synonymous with disease. In general, OSA occurs gradually. Snoring is the first and sign of alarm, but not the most significant. The sudden and choking awakenings with choking feeling included, in addition to identifying problems associated with lack of sleep, are reason enough to go to the specialist.
In any case, this health problem is considered pathological, a person must suffer from 5 to 10 interruptions in breathing (apnea) per hour during sleep, although it can reach in extreme cases, up to 90 during the same period. Each should last at least 10 seconds, at which time no air enters or leaves the lungs. In this period the brain is not getting enough oxygen. If the problem is prolonged in time, there may be a shortfall in irrigation of the brain with implications for the organism, both adults and children.
Comments on this entry are closed.