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If there is reduction or stoppage of breathing of a person while asleep, the diagnosis could be sleep apnea.Routine visits to the doctor, however, are usually not enough to detect sleep apnea and this disorder often goes undiagnosed. Because the condition manifests only while sleeping, most patients would not be able to tell first-hand if they have symptoms of sleep apnea. This condition could only be noticed if a patient’s family member or bed partner calls attention to the problem.

A diagnosis of this condition would reveal either of three types of apnea. These apnea types include central apnea, obstructive apnea, and a combination of the two.

Central apnea occurs when the brain of a person asleep fails to activate the muscles for breathing. Obstructive apnea, on the other hand, happens when the person’s airway collapses during sleep. This is the most common type of sleep apnea and occurs mostly in overweight patients. Obstructive sleep apnea has several possible complications. These include heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, daytime sleepiness, difficulty in concentration and thinking which could result in accidents while driving. Diagnosis and evaluation of obstructive sleep apnea is done through physical examination, medical history and polysomnography on the patient. If you think you might be suffering from sleep apnea you should see a soctor for sleep apnea treatments.

Seeking treatment is very crucial for a patient diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. The temptation is great for a person with this problem to just ignore the disorder. The treatment may involve the inconvenience of wearing dental appliances and masks nightly. Using a sleep apnea dentist is uncomfortable at first but you can get used to it. A sleep apnea chin strap is slightly less uncomfortable, but is very unattractive. Surgical treatment is painful and is not guaranteed to be successful.For these discouraging reasons on surgery and personal appliances, only 10% of sleep apnea patients have been estimated to have undergone treatment.

It is therefore important to educate the rest of the 90% of those patients of the consequences of non-treatment of their disorder.r Putting themselves at risk is bad enough and what is worse is that they pose a risk to others when they are driving. Serious risks face the patient for non-treatment of the problem, including higher possibility of stroke, hypertension, heart attack, work productivity reduction, lowered attentiveness and at its extreme death.

Treatment of patients suffering from obstructive apnea should be discussed with the doctor as soon as possible. Aside from surgery, dental appliances and masks, there are more palatable options for treatment. An apnea patient may have the choice to undergo behavioral theraphy, or treatments involving airway pressure.

Some lifestyle changes of patients could also help in apnea treatment. These include refraining from taking alcoholic drinks or muscle relaxants, weight reduction and stopping smoking. Having the body at a 30-degree elevation while sleeping to prevent airway collapse due to gravity could also help in apnea treatment. The reduction in the gravitational cause of sleep apnea could also be achieved by sleeping on a sideways position.

For those who want surgery, several procedures may be undertaken. These involve palate implants, nasal surgery, tongue reduction surgery, genioglossus advancement, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, bariatric surgery, tracheostomy, and maxi-mandibular advancement.