In order to contribute for a healthier sleep night check out these 10 things you must know about Sleep Apnea:

1. Sleep Apnea, or Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Syndrome, is a progressive and chronic disease characterized by partial or total obstruction of airways causing reiterated and temporary respiratory breaks while asleep. Breathing cessation occurs because airways collapse, blocking air to reach lungs.
2. Apnea is defined by total interruption of air flow through nose or mouth by at least 10 seconds, in adults, while hypopnea is an air flow reduction of 30% to 50%.
3. Apnea can happen due to many factors: more than normal relaxation of throat and tongue muscles, large tonsils and adenoids, obesity (excess of soft tissue weigh on throat makes difficult to throat keeps open), head and neck anatomy giving small room for air flow in mouth and throat.
4. Among the main apnea symptoms are snore and daylight sleepiness, although many patients do not even notice. Daylight sleepiness is explained by sleep interruptions caused by oxygen lack during the night.
5. Other apnea symptoms are: wake up with suffocation feeling, panting, with chest pain or discomfort, confused or with headache, dry mouth or throat pain by the morning, personality alterations, difficulty to concentrate, sexual impotence, irritability.
6. Sleep apnea increases probability of lethal diseases. It is associated with augmented hypertension risk, heart insufficiency and arrhythmia, strokes and diabetes.
7. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) affects approximately 30% of adult world population. Most of patients, between 85% and 90% lives with the disease without never get diagnosed and remains untreated.
8. Not everybody who snores has sleep apnea, as snoring is only one of the disease symptoms. Medical diagnosis is made by the polysomnography exam that is sleep monitoring by electronic apparatus. Clinical exam is indicated for patient's respiratory tract evaluation and must be carried out by a field specialist physician.
9. Life style changes can really contribute for correction of sleep apnea. Weigh loss, avoidance of alcohol consume, sideways sleeping, avoidance of fatty food consume just before sleep, avoid smoking four hours before go to bed, and elevate bed head by 6 to 8 inches are some simple actions that can prevent later problems.
10. Apnea is a several medical condition, prone to alter a person's life and contributive of some hazardous to life problems. However, it can be easily diagnosed and effectively treated. With therapy, breathing gains regular rhythm back, snores cease, a tranquil sleep is reestablished and life quality gets better.