Sleep doctors say if you experience these 2 most-ignored symptoms, visit a doctor immediately
People often have a strange relationship with sleep but the way our sleep schedule unfolds reveals a lot about our health. It is a known fact that how well we sleep predicts how energized and healthy we will be for the following day. While there are several reasons why our sleep is hindered, there is one common reason that many are not aware of. The former is an eye-opening condition and is often revealed by two major symptoms that often go unnoticed, per Huffpost. However, medical experts caution that one should immediately visit a hospital if such is the case.
Dr. Katie McCullar, holding a postdoctoral position at the neurologist department of the Massachusetts General Hospital, shared a condition called “sleep apnea,” and how it affects one’s sleeping cycles. “Sleep apnea is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by difficulty breathing during sleep,” she explained. The former is a condition wherein sleep is often disturbed due to irregular breathing, per the Mayo Clinic. It also causes a person to feel tired in spite of a good 8-12 hours of sleep. There are types of sleep apnea which are caused due to various reasons, both internal and external. However, two eye-opening symptoms are commonly seen, yet ignored.
Despite a population of around 25 million Americans witnessing the condition, the same is often left unattended due to its regular symptoms and lack of awareness. The two symptoms to look out for are- Snoring and strange noises while breathing. Ideally, snoring can be due to multiple reasons like stress or sleeping in a dry room. “There's also what we call primary snoring, where they just make the noise because the tissues in the back of the throat are fluttering,” said Dr. Robson Capasso, head of sleep surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California. However, one should not completely rule out the possibility that they could be having sleep apnea.
The second symptom is close to snoring- strange noises while sleeping. “Interestingly, it is not only snoring that indicates issues with breathing during sleep but also sporadic periods of silence,” McCullar said. If a person is making weird noises or sounds, it could be due to difficulty or irregular breathing while sleeping. “Someone suffering from sleep apnea may experience segments where they are not breathing at all, so they are unable to snore while their airway is closed. They will often startle awake after these moments of quiet due to the blood oxygen levels dropping below a certain level, causing them to wake from sleep,” the doctor explained.
There are other symptoms to help diagnose sleep apnea viz. difficulty staying awake, excessive sleepiness, headaches in the morning and so on. Doctors advise seeking medical attention if you have any of the two symptoms as the disorder can have serious effects. “Sleep apnea can lead to devastating health outcomes, including heart disease, strokes and diabetes, when left untreated,” McCullar explained. Other effects include complications with surgery, liver problems and so on. It is a condition that can drastically affect our simple functioning and our bodies and should not be taken lightly.