Can Sleep Apnea Kill You?
Sleep apnea is a dangerous and scary condition that causes frightening pauses in breathing, gasping during sleep, and loud, dangerous snoring. For bed-sharing partners, this can become a cause for concern when left untreated. When your partner suddenly stops breathing, it can be alarming. It can be natural to wonder whether or not sleep apnea can kill you if you leave it untreated. Keep reading to learn more about sleep apnea, the deadly conditions it causes, and treatment for sleep apnea to reduce your risk.
Could Sleep Apnea Pauses In Breathing Kill You?
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by episodes of a complete airway collapse or a partial collapse with an associated decrease in oxygen saturation or arousal from sleep. Other symptoms include loud, disruptive snoring, witnessed apneas during sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness. This disturbance results in fragmented, nonrestorative sleep. OSA has significant implications for cardiovascular health, mental illness, quality of life, and driving safety.
The risk of dying during sleep due to a sleep-apnea-related pause in breathing is low. The reason that frequent night awakenings, especially to urinate, is one of the major symptoms of sleep apnea is because that is the body’s stress and survival response to the breathing pauses.
Deadly Conditions Caused By Sleep Apnea
Even though the risk of dying during your sleep due to sleep apnea is low, there are still many deadly conditions that are caused by untreated sleep apnea. Some of these include:
- Heart disease
- Heart attack
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Metabolic diseases
- Obesity
- Serious accidents due to excessive sleepiness
- Dementia
- Memory issues
In order to significantly or completely reduce your risk of these deadly conditions, you need to seek medical treatment for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea does not go away on its own. Sleep apnea worsens over time, which makes it much more challenging to overcome these conditions if they are developed.
Treatment for Sleep Apnea
If you have sleep apnea or suspect you do, it is important to seek treatment right away to reduce your risk of deadly health conditions.
Treatment for sleep apnea does not need to involve surgery or a loud, uncomfortable CPAP machine. CPAP machines are difficult to maintain, do not provide noise relief for bed partners, and have been part of many dangerous recalls.
The Vivos Method for sleep apnea treatment provides sleep apnea treatment in as little as one year. According to Vivos, this treatment employs a multidisciplinary treatment plan that uses noninvasive, cost-effective oral appliance technology prescribed by trained dentists and medical professionals to treat dentofacial abnormalities and/or mild, moderate, and severe OSA and snoring.
Advanced Sleep and TMJ Solutions is proud to be one of the few providers in our area who can prescribe the Vivos Method.
Dr. Connor delves into every patient’s sleep apnea situation to determine their needs and provide the right treatment options. Based on home sleep test results, dental impressions, CT scan, and images of the patient’s oral cavity. She’s able to find the most effective treatment plan by using our state-of-the-art technology.
For more information, visit us at AdvancedSleepAndTMJSolutions.com!