Here’s Why Snoring Isn’t Just a Bad Habit
Have you been told that you snore, whether it is from family, friends, or a bed partner? Snoring can be annoying, loud, and disturbing for others. But that isn’t all it is. If you think that your loud snoring is just a bad habit that only impacts other people, you are wrong. Snoring is a dangerous symptom of a much larger health condition called sleep apnea. Sleep apnea causes many issues and does not go away on its own. Keep reading to learn the top 10 harmful ways that snoring impacts your life and how to finally get snoring and sleep apnea treatment to start living a better quality of life.
Dental Issues
When you snore, your mouth is open wide, and you are not breathing through your nose. Breathing through the nose is the body’s normal, natural way of breathing. The only reason a person would breathe through their mouth is if there is an obstruction blocking the airway, such as congestion or an issue related to OSA.
The nose acts as a filtration system to weed out toxins and clean the air that you breathe. When you breathe through the mouth, there is no filtration system and you are allowing toxins and allergens into your body. These can cause dental issues, halitosis (bad breath), and a sore throat.
Frequent Night Awakenings
Snoring and sleep apnea can cause frequent night awakenings, especially to urinate. You may also wake up many times throughout the night and not even realize it. In fact, it can happen hundreds of times in just one night!
Sleep apnea causes frequent pauses in breathing, which then signals the body that it needs to wake up. If you are waking up a lot in the middle of the night, take note. Your body is trying to tell you that you have sleep apnea! These frequent night awakenings are why you are unable to get a full, good night’s sleep. The body awakens most during the REM stage of sleep, which is responsible for processing information, retaining memories, dreaming, emotions, and allowing the brain to rest.
Obesity
Are you struggling with your weight, notice that you are gaining extra weight, or find it difficult to lose weight? It could be due to your snoring and sleep apnea.
While having obesity increases a person’s risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea, some experts suggest that the opposite might be true as well. While no studies have definitively proven this link, having OSA may increase the risk of obesity.
Obstructive sleep apnea may cause weight gain due to the effects of OSA on the hormone leptin. Leptin affects how much people eat by helping the body recognize when it’s full.
OSA increases the amount of leptin in the body and may contribute to leptin resistance. This may be because nighttime breathing disruptions trigger the release of cortisol, which affects leptin and leptin resistance. People with leptin resistance feel less satiated, leading to increased food intake and weight gain.
Memory Issues
Sleep apnea, memory issues, and even Alzheimer’s are all linked together. Good quality sleep is key for the body in many ways, including memory retention. If you’re continuously not getting a good night’s sleep, your memory is becoming negatively impacted.
The REM stage of sleep is when the body is able to retain and store information. The REM stage of sleep is also the stage of sleep that is most commonly interrupted by sleep apnea. As such, if you are not able to have a good quality sleep with a full REM stage of sleep, then you are not able to process, retain, and store information as effectively as someone without a sleep disorder.
Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Issues
When you sleep, your heart rate drops, and is able to rest and recuperate. If you are not able to get a good night’s sleep, you may find that your heart rate is increased and your blood pressure is higher. Repeatedly allowing your body and heart the time it needs to recuperate, night after night, will quickly lead to cardiovascular issues, especially if you have sleep apnea.
Some statistics surrounding sleep apnea and cardiovascular issues include:
- It’s estimated that patients with sleep apnea are 2-4 times more likely to develop heart arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) than people without this condition.
- Sleep apnea increases the risk of heart failure by 140% and the risk of coronary heart disease by 30%.
- Around 34% of men and 17% of women live with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common form of sleep apnea.
- Researchers estimate that over 80% of cases of moderate to severe OSA are undiagnosed
- Millions of people are living with some of the consequences of sleep apnea but don’t know they have this disorder.
Some of the cardiovascular issues that are caused by sleep apnea include:
- Hypertension
- Heart disease
- Heart failure
- Chest pain
- Heart attacks
- Irregular heartbeat
- Strokes
Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Cardiovascular issues aren’t the only health conditions to worry about if you are snoring or have sleep apnea. Another dangerous health condition that you are at a high risk of getting is type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea are linked by obesity. The more weight you gain, the more health risks you face, including sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes. In addition, the clean oxygen that the nose’s filtration system would normally provide is another key element. Depriving the body of clean oxygen causes issues with glucose levels and insulin because there is too much carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. In addition, people who already had type 2 diabetes before sleep apnea will find that their diabetes is much harder to manage.
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
Excessive daytime sleepiness is a major issue for people who suffer from sleep apnea. Every once in a while, if you are feeling sick, stressed, jetlagged, or otherwise unable to sleep comfortably, you will find that you are extremely tired the next day. It is difficult to process information, get the energy to do anything, complete assignments, focus, do work, take care of everyday chores and responsibilities, and much more.
People with sleep apnea never get a full, complete, restful night’s sleep. As such, people with sleep apnea feel the symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness every day. If you find yourself drinking a lot of coffee throughout the day, requiring a nap, are irritable and short-tempered, unable to focus, are seeing a decline in work or school, then it is important to get tested for sleep apnea as soon as possible to improve your quality of life.
Migraines
An unfortunate side effect of sleep apnea is frequent migraines, especially in the morning. Snoring can cause your body to be in a psychological state of stress, which will always cause headaches. In addition, poor sleep causes tense muscles, even around the face, which can quickly lead to headache issues.
Snoring also causes headaches in the morning because snoring is difficult for the body to do. It is loud, unnatural, and rattles the body. The poor oxygen quality due to mouth breathing will cause you to feel pretty yucky in the morning right when you wake up, including a pounding headache that seems difficult to get rid of. Poor sleep quality will also cause headaches the next morning—imagine getting woken up multiple times a night!
In addition, people who suffer from sleep apnea are also at an increased risk of suffering from anxiety and depression. Both of these conditions can cause migraine-like headaches. If you get frequent headaches, along with other symptoms of sleep apnea, it is important to be seen by a sleep doctor as soon as possible to get a diagnosis.
Irritability, Low Patience, and Mood Swings
Sleep apnea essentially causes sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep can impact your judgment and cause you to be irritable and short-tempered. You may also find that you have low patience for things and that you generally seem to be in a bad or grumpy mood.
Your mood can also impact how good your sleep quality is. The worse your mood is, the worse your sleep quality will be. It is a vicious cycle that can only be broken by seeing a sleep apnea treatment specialist to start getting better sleep and get back to your old, happy self.
Sexual Dysfunction
Erectyle disfunction is a disease that can cause a host of issues for the people who live with it. One of the many causes of ED is sleep apnea. Both disorders—ED and OSA—are known to be associated with a variety of systemic diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, depression, and other psychological factors). A number of scholars have evaluated the prevalence of ED in patients with OSA, and possible mechanisms have been proposed, including an abnormal sympathetic nervous system, endothelial dysfunction, chronic intermittent hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, and/or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disturbances.
Snoring & Sleep Apnea Treatment with Gorman Health and Wellness
If you are ready to start living a better life and stop snoring, the Vivos Method for obstructive sleep apnea (even if it is severe) is the best, easiest way to feel better.
The Vivos Method allows you to recover from sleep apnea without the need for a loud and uncomfortable CPAP machine. You can start seeing results within the first year, and you don’t have to be chained to the loud machine for life.
All you need to do is talk to your doctor about your sleep apnea concerns. Once you perform a sleep study and obtain your sleep apnea diagnosis, give us a call. We’re looking forward to helping you!
About Gorman Health and Wellness
Dr. Gorman is a part of the breathing wellness movement, which aims to increase awareness and improve treatment for sleep-related airway conditions like sleep apnea. He has partnered with organizations focused on collaborating with dentists to apply the sciences of Craniofacial Epigenetics (the study of cranial modifications caused by gene expression as opposed to genetic code alteration) and Pneumopedics® (the practical application of oral appliance therapy and non-surgical airway remodeling) in the management of sleep apnea.
Together, the application of these sciences allows for underlying causes of airway obstruction to be treated in 98% of cases, resulting in a high success rate among sleep apnea patients. For every sleep apnea case at our practice, Dr. Gorman will gather patient data and determine the patient’s specific needs based on home sleep test results, dental impressions, CT scans, and images. Our state-of-the-art technology, paired with Dr. Gorman’s experience with sleep disorders, allows him to find the most effective treatment plan for each individual’s particular case, yielding improved daytime and nighttime breathing for the patient.
“I have been helping people suffering from Sleep Apnea with a non-invasive, clinically approved treatment method. This method has allowed my patients to sleep with far fewer events per hour allowing them to get rid of their CPAP and BiPAP machines. Imagine not having to use one of those machines, getting back a much greater quality of life along with the benefits of being able to breathe better.” – Dr. Gorman.
For more information on Dr. Gorman, improving your sleep apnea, snoring, and your quality of life, contact us today.
