A great place to start Disorder information source Rated and Reviewed Sleep Links Entrance to all monitored Sleep Forums Search all of Sleepnet.com


Apnea Forum
Posting


Archived Apnea Forum73 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Apnea Forum Homepage.

Re: Sleep apnea kills (long)

Posted by flubdub on October 06, 2001 at 17:09:12:

In Reply to: Sleep apnea kills posted by First timer on October 06, 2001 at 01:09:37:

Unless your health is already compromised, one or two missed nights probably won't kill you, just leave you muzzy-headed for lack of sleep. But every night you go untreated is hard on your body, and you can't expect your body and brain to remain fully functional if you continue to insult them, even on an occasional basis.

With each apnea and hypopnea event throughout the night, the level of oxygen in your blood drops. You spend the night in a state of high blood pressure. Your lungs work harder, your heart beats harder to try to circulate more blood faster, to get oxygen to the organs that are screaming for it. Every part of your body needs oxygen to function at the cellular level - your heart, liver, kidneys, brain, endocrine system, etc etc etc. Without oxygen, the cells can't process nutrition in or wastes out as efficiently - the organs can't do their jobs as well.

Here's a scenario for long-term untreated apnea.

AFter a while of this, you may get permanent high blood pressure. Your heart may enlarge, your blood vessels swell and weaken from the high pressure. Your various body systems are vulnerable to illness, and start breaking down in various ways. You can't heal as well. Your metabolism slows down, you're less active, you gain weight. That causes additional problems for your physical health (and may well make the apnea worse).

At some point, a critical organ fails for lack of needed blood and oxygen during an apneic event. Maybe you have a heart attack. Maybe it's your brain that's affected, and you have a stroke. Maybe you die from the first such event, or maybe you're left physically infirm or handicappped for the final years of your life, before it happens again for the last time.

And this doesn't even take into consideration the the social and life-quality problems that rise from constant sleep-deprivation.

So, yes, CPAP does kinda s**k. But so does illness, infirmity, and early death. Reconsider your excuses for avoiding it.

f.


Follow Ups:


Archived Apnea Forum73 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Apnea Forum Homepage

  • IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
  • The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved