What Happens If You Don’t Treat Sleep Apnea?

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What Happens If You Don’t Treat Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is actually a serious disease that many people tend to ignore. They may be aware of their condition but choose to leave it untreated but it’s not a healthy choice. I’ll tell you what can possibly happen.

So what happens if you don’t treat sleep apnea? There are a lot of dangers awaiting to happen any moment when you don’t treat sleep apnea, check this list of risks below.

  1. Heart failure
    • May lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death
  2. Heart attack
    • Can also be severely life-threatening
  3. Irregular heartbeat
    • Worsens the ability to breathe
    • Can trigger anxiety
    • Can lead to other heart diseases
  4. Stroke
    • Can leave permanent damage
    • May lead to paralysis
    • Can cause death
  5. Depression
    • Not an easy condition to treat
    • Can lead to self-harming
  6. Weight gain or loss
    • Sleep apnea can cause uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss that can lead to complicated health conditions
  7. Diabetes
    • Leaves you prone to more heart attacks
  8. High Blood Pressure
    • Aside from your physical health, this can also affect your mental health and relationship with people around you including your work
    • Can lead to other life-threatening conditions
  9. Increases ADHD
    • Sleep apnea reduces your ability to focus which is what happens when you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
    • Having a lack of control to focus can lead to frustration and risk of other danger
  10. Headaches
    • You may wake up with a bad headache which will lead to other problems listed here
    • Can lead to brain problems
  11. Lack of daily energy
    • As mentioned, your energy will be reduced since you are unable to sleep well. This can lead to risky conditions that may put someone in danger
  12. Seizures
    • Sleep apnea patients are more prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients without sleep apnea.

The thing is, sleep apnea, if left untreated or worsened by other factors, can lead to death. Its risks can be fatal and leave permanent damage or severe pain and feeling of sickness which can drag on daily.

If diagnosed with sleep apnea, one must consider treating the problem as soon as possible in order to prevent any unwanted scenarios related to your health.

How to treat sleep apnea

There are different ways to treat sleep apnea and it often depends on what causes the condition in the first place. Usually, surgeries are the best way to permanently cure the issue.

However, there are also other methods that will be listed below and can probably help you out. Most of these can treat both sleep apnea and other health problems.

  1. Rapid Maxillary Expansion
    • For children with obstructive sleep apnea. This process places an expandable brace on the roof of the mouth that increases the width of the upper jaw (maxilla).
    • Over time, parents can adjust the brace using a special key to increase the amount of pressure for the teeth.
  2. Jaw Advancement Surgery
    • For teenagers and adults. This process will surgically break the jaw bones, moved forward and then fixed properly with screws and plates and will change the person’s facial structure or profile.
    • It might take months to recover.
  3. Surgical Airway Advancement
    • Similar to the 2nd example. Bones of the upper and lower jaw will be repositioned in a way that will relieve airway obstruction.
  4. Nasal Strips
    • Nasal strips are one of the earliest tools used to treat conditions like sleep apnea and its symptoms such as snoring.

      Nowadays, there are newly developed nasal strips that you can try.
  5. Oral Appliance
    • Oral pieces can help with sleep apnea and snoring, they are custom made to make sure it prevents the obstruction in the airways and counter sleep apnea and snoring.
  6. CPAP Treatment
    • The CPAP or “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure” is a commonly used treatment and proven to be effective for sleep apnea patients and helping snoring.
  7. Avoid sedatives before going to sleep
    • Certain sedatives can cause snoring. Consult a medical expert to determine what type of sedative may be the cause.
  8. Treat chronic allergies
    • Some allergies can trigger obstruction in your body’s airways and may cause you to have sleep apnea and cause you to snore. Treat or avoid triggering your allergies to avoid snoring.
  9. Try to avoid overworking yourself.
    • Sometimes, simply going to sleep while totally exhausted can make our muscles relax too much to the point that it can lead to snoring.
  10. Avoid drinking liquor before bed.
    • Excessive liquor can also relax the muscles that will lead to snoring. Limit alcohol consumption or avoid drinking too much before going to sleep.
  11. Sleep with your head elevated.
    • When the head is not properly elevated, the tongue can fall back and block the air passage, causing the tissues to vibrate and snore.

      You can also use an anti-snore pillow which will keep your head in proper place that can prevent you from snoring. Sleeping in a chair or a recliner chair is also an option.
  12. Try to sleep on your sides.
    • Sleeping flat on our backs can cause the tongue to fall back and block the airways. It can also make the muscles relax and cause snoring.

      You can read about: “How to prevent sleeping on my back” to learn how you can keep sleeping on your sides.
  13. Get plenty of exercises.
    • Lack of physical activity can cause our body’s functionality to drop. This means that we need the right amount of exercise to keep our body “awake” and functioning even as we sleep.

      This is important so we can stop snoring “naturally”.
  14. Stop or limit smoking.
    • If your body inhales the smoke, it can cause the muscles inside to swell or become irritated, potentially blocking the airways and causing you to snore.

      Those who are also exposed to secondhand smoke can be prone to snoring, so avoid getting near smoke as much as possible.
  15. Drink enough water.
    • When we are dehydrated, the throat becomes dry which makes the vibrating tissues sound louder and produces snoring. Stay hydrated to prevent snoring!
  16. Eat a healthy diet.
    • Our diet plays a huge part in our health! You should also avoid eating heavy before sleeping, if you go to sleep on a full stomach, your muscles may not work as it should.

      Focus on eating healthy foods!
  17. Sleep on time.
    • Not getting the right amount of sleep and not sleeping early can cause the body to become dysfunctional and snore.

      Avoid depriving yourself with sleep and you can stop snoring.
  18. Lose weight.
    • Being overweight or obesity will cause difficulty in breathing. The excess fat will get in the way of the air passages, causing tissues to vibrate and cause snoring.

As you can see, some of these only involve basic lifestyle changes. However, if these aren’t enough to cure any one of your conditions, the best thing to do is see a doctor for better medications.

Why treating sleep apnea can be difficult

There are also certain factors that can worsen sleep apnea or be the cause of it which makes treating it difficult. Some of these factors cannot be fixed, but it’s important that you know about it.

  1. Obesity
    • Can make breathing difficult even while asleep or not moving
  2. Hypothyroidism
    • The condition wherein your body does not produce enough thyroid hormones, which is needed to control how to use energy received from food through metabolism.

      Bad metabolism can affect heartbeat and breathing.
  3. Acromegaly
    • Opposite of hypothyroidism, acromegaly produces too much growth hormones which can affect your overall health including breathing.
  4. Allergies
    • There are certain allergies that can worsen sleep apnea. Allergies that result with difficulty in breathing are the likes.
  5. Smoking cigarettes
    • Excessive smoking can damage your body which may make it harder to function or relax properly, increasing the risk of sleep apnea
  6. Drinking liquor
    • Too much liquor and drinking before going to sleep can cause sleep apnea.
  7. Drug usage
    • Sedations or other types of drugs especially when being abused can result in sleep apnea or worse.
  8. Being male
    • Observations reveal that males tend to have sleep apnea more than females
      • Though this factor cannot be avoided, knowing about it will help you understand the reason why you are prone to sleep apnea
  9. Being old
    • Observations also revealed that older adults are more prone to sleep apnea than younger ones due to more complicated health issues that may trigger sleep apnea

Other natural causes of sleep apnea can be a thick neck, narrow throat and having a round head. Avoid triggering your allergies or get medications for other conditions to treat your sleep apnea.

When to treat sleep apnea

Sleep apnea must be stopped immediately. It should not be left untreated, as you can see the risks listed in the earlier sections. But how do you know if you have sleep apnea?

You might be confusing normal conditions for sleep apnea. Actually, there is a way to help you find out the best way how you can resolve your sleep apnea.

One of the most common ways to identify sleep apnea is by conducting a “sleep study” wherein the patient will have to stay in a center where doctors and nurses would be observing their sleeping habits.

Not only the sleeping behavior but other factors that could be a sign of sleep apnea as well. Here’s a list of sleep apnea signs to watch out for if you are not ready to go for a sleep study yet.

  1. When you snore heavily
    • Maybe, it can be a sign of fatigue but snoring loudly and usually can be a sign of sleep apnea.
  2. Sudden weight gain or loss
    • Losing control of your weight can be a sign of sleep apnea.
  3. Gasping for air during sleep
    • The feeling of drowning without knowing it and suddenly you’re out of air.
  4. If you have insomnia
    • Having trouble going to sleep because you have breathing problems that you may not notice
  5. If you experience hypersomnia
    • Having trouble staying awake in the morning because you were unable to sleep well due to your sleep apnea
  6. Waking up with a headache
    • Sleep apnea can disturb your body’s “charging” state. Since you can’t sleep well, your body will use energy for means that can help you breathe which may lead to headaches.
  7. Waking up with a dry mouth
    • With sleep apnea, the person tends to snore and keep their mouth open when gasping for air which leads to a dried up mouth once we awaken.
  8. Decreased ability to focus
    • Sleep apnea can give lack of sleep which will also result in difficulty to focus on anything
  9. Feeling uncomfortable
    • Your lack of energy due to sleep apnea can make you feel uncomfortable and irritable without your knowledge
  10. Suddenly stop breathing during sleep
    • Your housemates should notice this and tell you about it. Sleep apnea can disrupt breathing that may last for up to 10 seconds which is already risky.

Related Questions

Is sleep apnea a respiratory disease?

Yes, sleep apnea is somehow considered a respiratory disease and it often comes associated with other existing respiratory diseases.

According to research, those who are already infected by any respiratory disease are more likely to be prone to sleep apnea.

Having a respiratory disease will definitely cause breathing problems, which is the main risk factor of sleep apnea.

Can sleep apnea cause lung infections?

Yes, sleep apnea can be an indirect reason for a lung infection, if you use CPAP machine to treat your sleep apnea, it can potentially cause lung infections if the machine is unclean.