Many people know that living with sleep apnea can present a host of difficulties — from causing daytime fatigue to disrupting your partner’s sleep. But the risks associated with this disorder go beyond the obvious implications for sleep quality. Among the severe health complications sleep apnea can precipitate is hypertension, or high blood pressure.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Let’s consider the disorder first. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder wherein breathing starts and stops repetitively during sleep. The most common form of sleep apnea — obstructive sleep apnea — occurs when the throat muscles intermittently relax and block the airway during sleep.
Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
People suffering from sleep apnea often experience symptoms such as:
- Snoring loudly
- Gasping for air during sleep
- Waking with a dry mouth
- Morning headache
- Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
- Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
When left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to a host of health issues, including heart disease, type two diabetes, liver problems, and — what might be surprising to some — hypertension.
The Connection Between Sleep Apnea and Hypertension
What connects sleep apnea and hypertension is a mechanism intrinsic to human survival: your body’s response to low levels of oxygen. In healthy circumstances, intermittent dips in oxygen level generally lead to episodic increases in blood pressure. But what if these dips are chronic, as they are in sleep apnea?
Body’s Response
The body reacts to the frequent drops in oxygen level caused by sleep apnea by increasing the production of a hormone called epinephrine. This hormone raises the blood pressure, grounding the link between sleep apnea and hypertension.
Stats and Facts
Studies suggest that about 50 percent of people with sleep apnea also have hypertension. This percentage is not trivial, and it necessitates attention to prevent the cascading health issues that hypertension can trigger.
How Can Sleep Apnea Be Treated?
One name that has become synonymous with innovative treatment alternatives in the context of sleep apnea is Dr. Kelley Mingus. As a dentist, Dr. Mingus offers non-traditional solutions designed to treat and remove the root cause of obstructive sleep apnea rather than just managing its symptoms.
Traditional Treatment
Typically, sleep apnea is treated with continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines. These devices maintain a continuous flow of pressurized air into the respiratory system, ensuring the airway remains open while sleeping. But as many patients rightly complain, these machines and the necessary masks can be uncomfortable and noisy, often making a restful night of sleep seem like a far-off dream.
Innovative Alternatives by Dr. Kelley Mingus
Dr. Mingus has brought to Bend, Oregon, a different, more natural approach to treat sleep apnea. One of his practice’s innovative treatments is a facial growth method, focusing on developing the jaw and airway to permanently clear obstructions that cause sleep apnea.
Dr. Mingus also offers customized mouth appliances, or orthotic devices. These help hold the jaw in a more favorable position to ensure unobstructed, guaranteed airflow.
Conclusion
While the connection between sleep apnea and hypertension might not be common knowledge, it is indeed a reality that affects many people globally. With the current advances in treatments — both traditional and innovative, such as those introduced by Dr. Mingus — managing and potentially eradicating sleep apnea to mitigate the risk of hypertension is becoming more achievable.
So if snoring, sleep interruptions or daytime sleepiness plague your nights and days, don’t hesitate to explore your options. Remember, by treating sleep apnea, you’re not merely gearing toward better sleep, but also a healthier life.