Sleep Apnea Herndon VA - Reston VA - Sterling VA
Sleep apnea is a dangerous disorder affecting over 12 million people throughout the United States. When you suffer from sleep apnea, your breathing stops repeatedly while you sleep. You may experience between 20 and 30 stoppages in breathing an hour throughout the night. As a result of these disruptions, you may not be able to enter the deeper sleep cycles necessary to maintain your body's overall general health.
Causes of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea occurs when your throat muscles relax, causing your airway to become narrow or even closed. This prevents you from breathing properly and drastically reduces the oxygen content in your blood. In order to begin breathing normally again, your brain briefly wakes you from sleep. Generally, you will not even be aware that your sleep has been disturbed.
Sleep apnea is most commonly marked by excessive, loud snoring. Frequently, this snoring is so loud that it will prevent others nearby from sleeping soundly through the night, causing sleep deprivation for those you love.
Other symptoms of sleep apnea include:
- Daytime sleepiness
- Chronic fatigue
- Dry mouth
- Insomnia
- Short term memory impairment
- Depression
- Memory/concentration issues
The Dangers of Sleep Apnea
Because sleep apnea lowers the oxygen levels in your blood, you run the risk of developing one or more serious conditions, if you do not seek treatment for your condition. In severe cases, people experience as much as a 50% reduction in oxygen intake. Such extreme levels of oxygen deprivation may greatly increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Other conditions caused by untreated sleep apnea include:
- High blood pressure
- Fibromyalgia
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- Diabetes
- Weight gain
- Memory impairment
- Depression
Treatment for Sleep Apnea
Mild cases of sleep apnea may be treated by implementing several lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, changing your diet, drinking less alcohol, or quitting smoking. For more severe cases, Dr. Katz can offer several treatment methods to help you breathe properly while sleeping.
Dr. Katz may fit you with an oral appliance called the SomnoDent MAS™. This device is precision-made and custom-fit for your mouth. It resembles a sports mouthpiece and covers your upper and lower teeth. The SomnoDent MAS™ places your lower jaw slightly forward from its natural resting position, causing your throat tissue to tighten so that it does not collapse. It is very effective in preventing snoring and treating mild to moderate cases of sleep apnea.
In some cases, surgery is necessary, but only for patients suffering from severe sleep apnea.
To learn more about our many treatment methods for sleep apnea, please contact Dr. Katz today to schedule a consultation. He serves clients in the Herndon, Reston, and Arlington, Virginia area.
