Sleep apnea is a health condition that affects the sufferer's quality of life and has been known to cause depression and drowsiness while driving. Studies have also shown a correlation between metabolic diseases and sleep apnea and a relationship between the condition and cognitive abilities. However, poor quality of life is the main patient-reported implication of sleep apnea. The effect of sleep apnea on the quality of life may be why treatments like sleep apnea CPAP are gaining popularity. But how exactly does sleep apnea affect the quality of your life?

It Affects Cardiovascular Health

Sleep apnea has been proven to have a strong link to certain conditions such as heart failure, irregular heartbeat, and heart attacks. For sufferers of this condition, breathing stops when they sleep, and this leads to a drop in their heart rate, and when the breathing resumes, the heart rate increases and leads to higher blood pressure

According to iNeedBetterSleep.com, sleep apnea patients may have at least 30 breathing interruptions each night, resulting in hundreds of pauses each night. In many instances, people who suffer from sleep apnea wake up every two minutes, making getting proper sleep almost impossible. Therefore, it is important to use methods such as sleep apnea CPAP, which are used to help patients get sufficient sleep

It Leads to Weight Gain

Although not everyone with sleep apnea will suffer weight gain, people who are obese have a higher tendency of being victims of the disorder. The connection between sleep apnea and obesity is that when you add weight, there may be an accumulation of fat in the neck area which may obstruct breathing and result in sleep apnea.

Also, when your body is deprived of sleep, your body will not be able to produce as much leptin as possible. Leptin is a hormone that helps cut down hunger, and the lower the leptin levels, the more difficult it is to lose weight.

Increased High Blood Pressure Risk

The moment you cease breathing and your oxygen levels plunge, the brain will begin relaying a message to increase the level of adrenaline in the body. This spike in adrenaline leads to the constriction of your blood vessels. The resulting effect of this is that your blood pressure will increase abnormally.

Sleep apnea CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, is the choice treatment for sleep apnea. Detecting and treating this condition can help improve the overall quality of your life.