Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is bad for you.

 

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is bad for you.

Well, duh. 

But just how bad? 

Like doing drugs bad? 

Or smoking bad? 

Or eating ice cream every day bad? 

Just to make sure we’re on the same page — CLEARLY doing drugs is worse for you than eating ice cream. Do I even need to point that out? Seems obvious.

Obstructive sleep apnea is less obvious because, well, you’re asleep.

Imagine someone holding a pillow over your face every night, every other minute, so that you can’t breathe for about 10-20 seconds.  Your oxygen level drops a little, but just before you wake up, he takes away the pillow and you get a breath.  That’s what untreated severe OSA is like.  Every two minutes (or more often), every night, all night long.  That makes us have really poor sleep quality, so we may feel tired the next day. 

What you may not realize is that it also really stresses our heart and lung systems, too.  Over a period of years, people who don’t effectively treat severe OSA are at far higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure.  Not only that, it stresses other systems in the body leading to increased risk of depression, diabetes, impotence, memory disturbances, and tons of other badness. 

Consider this, a study that followed patients with sleep apnea over 18 years found that of those who had untreated severe OSA, 40 % had died by the end of the study! 

So, in summary, if you don’t want to die prematurely, get your OSA treated.

Call me. I can help.

 

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Daily Life, SleepErin Shellenbergersleep apnea, health risks, sleep