Sleep apnea is known to cause loud snoring and excessive tiredness during the day, but unfortunately, the problems don’t stop there. If the disorder is left untreated for too long, it can contribute to various health complications – including potentially life-threatening cardiovascular issues. How can sleep apnea affect your heart health? Your dentist is here with the facts.
What is Sleep Apnea?
While you’re asleep, your breathing might temporarily stop due to the airway becoming blocked in some manner. Sleep apnea is when these pauses happen repeatedly – sometimes as often as 30 times an hour. This disorder can make it extremely difficult to get a full night’s sleep because your brain will be forced to keep waking your body up in an effort to restart breathing.
What Impact Can Sleep Apnea Have on Heart Health?
Studies show that people with sleep apnea tend to have a higher risk for heart problems. This can be attributed to the fact that repeated pauses in breathing can reduce oxygen levels in the blood. Less oxygen leads to higher blood pressure, which can ultimately increase the chances of life-threatening heart attacks and strokes.
What Can You Do About Sleep Apnea?
If you want to protect your heart health, you need to have your sleep apnea treated as soon as possible. Of course, the first step is to realize that you have it in the first place. Sleep apnea isn’t always easy to detect, but it is associated with a number of symptoms. In addition to loud snoring and sleepiness, you may also experience headaches, dry mouth, insomnia, memory problems, and irritability.
Upon noticing any potential warning signs of sleep apnea, you should have a sleep test performed. The results of this test will allow an expert to determine whether you’re truly suffering from sleep apnea. After having the problem diagnosed, the next step is to seek treatment.
Many people use CPAP machines to keep sleep apnea under control, but some individuals may find this approach to be too noisy or uncomfortable. As an alternative, your dentist may be able to provide you with a customized oral appliance; if you wear it at night, it will reposition your jaw in order to help you maintain an open airway so that you don’t have to worry about breathing interruptions.
In short, ignoring sleep apnea can have dire consequences for your heart health. Fortunately, if you act quickly to have your disorder treated, you can protect yourself from its worst effects and enjoy more restful nights again.
About the Practice
At Beck Dental Care of Columbia, our dentists put their 40-plus years of dental experience to good use by bringing comprehensive oral health care to the local community. In addition to our many preventive, restorative, and cosmetic dental services, we can also treat sleep apnea with personalized oral appliances. To schedule a consultation at our office, visit our website or call (931) 388-8452.