Indulging in high-calorie foods during the holidays resulting in weight gain, especially around the neck, may lead to more problems than facing yourself in the mirror after the new year, says a diplomat of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine.
Many Americans put on pounds during November and December, leading not only to New Year’s resolutions, but possibly significant impairment of their air passages during sleep, says Dr. David Lawler, of the Center for Sound Sleep, in Bloomington, Indiana.
With the exception of certain flat-faced dogs, such as bulldogs, humans are the only mammals that suffer from sleep apnea, a common, but dangerous condition where the upper airway in the throat closes off during sleep. Just like bulldogs, certain people have anatomical irregularities in the skull that predispose them to sleep apnea.
"The percentages of people with anatomical irregularities pale in comparison to the number suffering from sleep apnea due to weight gain," Lawler said. "Fatty deposits accumulate in the neck as well as throughout the body. Any increase in neck size due to fat formation encroaches on the upper airway causing the airway to narrow."
Air rushing through this narrowed airway space causes the loose, flabby tissue to vibrate. The snoring sound that results can be highly annoying to a bed partner, and cause the snorer to be the brunt of humorous jokes. However, this sound can be the sound of someone literally fighting for his or her life.
Studies show that one in five adults literally suck their upper airway shut and stop breathing from five to more than 100 times per hour. People who have obstructed breathing during sleep, in its severest form, are three times more likely to die when compared to people with normal nighttime breathing.
"It’s pretty startling to see what five or 10 pounds can do to someone when it comes to developing or aggravating sleep apnea," Lawler said. "It may be that delicate threshold where that extra weight adds significant complications to someone’s sleep."
Almost everyone is likely to snore at one time or another, and while most people with apnea snore, not everyone who snores has apnea. It has been found in all age groups. Estimates of snoring vary widely based on how it is defined.
Habitual snoring has been found in about 24 percent of adult women and 40 percent of adult men. Both men and women are more likely to snore as they age. Men, however, become less likely to snore after the age of 70.
Obstructive sleep apnea is best treated by the use of a positive airway pressure device, such as a continuous positive airway pressure device, or CPAP, or a bi-level positive airway pressure device, or bi-level. Some people mistaken refer to all bi-level devices as BiPAP machines, although the word BiPAP is a registered trademark of Respironics, Inc., for a specific line of bi-level devices. The term xPAP is used when speaking of positive airway pressure machines, overall, when one specific type of machine is not being discussed.
Other treatments for apnea exist, though the success rate at eliminating the apneas — especially without surgery — are not close to the almost 100 percent success rate of xPAP devices. They include oral devices, including custom devices made by dentists; surgeries; and an implant that’s been on the market for a few years with mixed comments.
While many people with obstructive sleep apnea snore loudly and frequently, following by periods of silence when airflow is reduced or blocked, and then come to a conclusion when the person begins to make choking, snorting, or gasping sounds when the person’s airway reopens.
Signs of not getting enough sleep or sleeping poorly include consistently taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, awakening more than a few times or for long periods each night, feeling sleepy during the day, or having trouble concentrating at school or at work.
Keeping a daily sleep log, or diary, can help you track your sleep habits and identify what might be interfering with sleep. You may download a sleep diary. To download files from this site, you need to be registered as a site member to gain access. Once registered, simply login, and then download the files you’re interest in.
Links of interest
Have you had bouts of insomnia lasting two weeks or more? Do you walk around in a constant fog, feeling sleepy, fatigued, and as though you have no energy? Perhaps you "feel" older than you are, or maybe it’s all you can do to stay awake while driving. If any of that, or similar issues are familiar, or if you snore or have disrupted sleep, even if just a few simple, repeat trips to the bathroom during the night, check out these two online tests to help you get to the root of the issue. While they will not make a diagnosis for you, they will help you, your physician, or, more appropriately, a sleep specialist, find out what’s causing you the problem sleepiness.
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