If the title of this blog sounds like a typical Friday night for you, you are not alone. Regardless of how much you know about any of these three things (alcohol, snoring, OSA), you may not know how closely tied together they are. If you struggle with any of these three issues, please read on to learn more about their fascinating connection.
If you snore, you likely have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. If you drink alcohol, you likely snore. If you have OSA, you probably snore. You may see where we are going with this: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a serious medical condition characterized by breathing stoppages during the night that may occur hundreds of times per night. The breathing cessation episodes may last ten seconds or more.
People with sleep apnea snore and snoring is exacerbated by alcohol intake prior to bedtime. So, if you have OSA, you will snore, and if you drink, you will snore even more.
A Sleep Apnea Dentist Can Help
Now that you’re totally confused, what’s the solution to snoring, sleep apnea, and alcohol’s effect on the two? Find an Aberdeen, North Carolina, sleep apnea dentist that can treat your sleep apnea, explain how OSA affects your health, illustrate alcohol’s role in OSA, and get you sleeping better, more soundly than ever before.
After Obstructive Sleep Apnea is properly diagnosed with a sleep study, you can begin treatment right away. While CPAP has been the gold standard for sleep apnea treatment for decades, there are new, highly effective sleep apnea treatments that are changing lives one restful night at a time.
Dangers of OSA
If you have been chastised for snoring and keeping others awake, if you feel exhausted even after going to bed at a decent time, and if you’re having health problems with no obvious cause, it’s time for a sleep study to diagnose Obstructive Sleep Apnea. You would be amazed to learn how much damage sleep apnea can do to other areas of the body. An Aberdeen, NC, sleep apnea dentist will explain that:
- Sleep apnea can affect your cardiovascular health
- Sleep apnea can contribute to strokes
- Sleep apnea may cause weight gain
- Sleep apnea affects mood and may lead to anxiety and depression
- Sleep apnea can cause hypertension (high blood pressure)
- OSA raises the risk of Type II Diabetes
- OSA can lead to Metabolic Syndrome (which leads to diabetes)
- OSA can affect your neurological function (brain function)
- Sleep apnea puts you at a greater risk for motor vehicle accidents
- OSA sufferers are more likely to have glaucoma
The Biology Behind the Connection
When people have Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the tissue in their airway becomes blocked, and that’s what causes the choking, gasping for air episodes several times a night. When you bring alcohol into the picture, the tissue in the airway becomes even more relaxed, collapsing and creating more of a blockage.
The sound of snoring is the tissue vibrating in the blocked airway. Alcohol causes the tissue to be even more relaxed, which increases snoring. It’s a vicious cycle that goes on and on for hours, and the result is a person with a terrible night’s sleep who wakes feeling tired.
A person with OSA will have difficulty focusing the next day and may even feel like they got no sleep at all. Imagine what a toll that takes on the body over time. We all have experienced a bad night of sleep from time to time. It makes for a very long and miserable next day. Just think how awful you’d feel with poor quality sleep night after night for months, years, or even decades.
Get Help for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Today in Aberdeen, North Carolina
Kuhn Dental Associates, serving Aberdeen, North Carolina, and surrounding areas, can help you get the quality sleep you need. With an OSA diagnosis, a treatment plan can begin right away. Please call Kuhn Dental Associates (910) 692-4450, or fill out our online contact form to ask a question or inquire about an appointment. Aren’t you tired of being tired from bad sleep? Let the experienced staff at Kuhn Dental Associates improve your sleep and overall well-being!
