Sleep apnea can be quite a dangerous condition to live with – especially when it goes undetected and untreated for a very long time. So, it is best to know the various characteristics of sleep apnea, as this will help you to better recognize and understand the condition.

A sleep apnea patient may suffer from as many as 20 to 30 pauses in the breathing pattern, in an hour. Pauses in the breath or apnea, is the main characteristic feature of the condition. Once the patient stops breathing, the oxygen level in the blood decreases and causes the brain to signal him to get up. Once this happens, breathing resumes itself with a loud snore.

Major characteristics of sleep apnea

Let us look into some of the most important sleep apnea characteristics:

• Patient may have choking sensations
• There were be frequent interruptions in sleep
• Early morning headache may be present
• Sleepiness through the day
• A feeling of tiredness and fatigue through the day
• High blood pressure in patient
• Waking up sweating
• Sexual dysfunction
• Being obese or overweight
• Depression
• Memory problems
• Swelling of the legs
• Urinating a number of times through the night

In children, sleep apnea may be characterized by

• Immense day time sleepiness
• Lack of concentration in school
• Memory issues while studying
• Unable to gain weight
• Restless leg syndrome or an intense urge to move legs
• Hypothyroidism or an underactive thyroid
• In rare cases, there might be failure of the right side of the heart

A patient who is suffering from sleep apnea is faced by a very tough life. Their sleep disoriented breathing is believed to cause a number of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, arrhythmias, diabetes and a number of motor accidents due to drowsy driving. As such, it is important that you do the best that you can to treat yourself, or your family member of this condition.

How severe is it?

Once you have managed to get a good idea about the characteristics of sleep apnea, you should understand the severity of the condition. The apnea – Hypopnea Index and respiratory distress index can help you to understand the severity of Obstructive Apnea.

Why does it happen?

There may be a number of causes for sleep apnea in patients. Being obese is one major cause of sleep apnea. Since the patient becomes fat, the excess fat builds up around the airway and this in turn makes the breathing labored unhealthy.

Age is yet another factor for sleep apnea. When you become old, the muscles around the nasal airway become lax and this can result in labored breathing and sleep apnea. A unique shape of the jaw can also be another cause of obstruction of blood flow.

Finally, remember that proper treatment of sleep apnea disorder is extremely important, as otherwise, it can even turn fatal.