Sleep apnea and loud snoring Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous
disorder with fairly benign symptoms such as loud snoring
at night, and morning headaches or daytime bouts of
sleepiness. The cause? Intermittent periods throughout
sleep when you actually stop breathing.
Breathing cessation, or apnea, lasts from seconds to
nearly a minute. When breathing resumes, the brain senses
lack of oxygen and wakes you up. The snoring is loud,
sometimes explosive. I
n the morning, the build-up of carbon dioxide in the
blood causes headaches. And the lack of deep, relaxing
sleep can leave one drowsy and usually grouchy, during
the day.Ê
During sleep apnea , the upper air passages in the mouth
and throat are obstructed (no one is sure why). One
form of treatment that has proven successful is wearing
an acrylic appliance during sleep to keep air passages
open. It's comfortable and easy to use.
For more information regarding sleep apnea please call
our office.
