Nobody looks forward to a life hooked up to a machine every night that helps them breathe. But the alternative could be suffering a stroke or heart attack that either takes your life or leaves you in need of supplemental oxygen during the daytime, too.
But if you have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), opting for a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, a bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPap) machine, or an oral appliance to help you sleep through the night can improve your quality of life. They could even increase your life expectancy dramatically.
At Advanced Medical Care, our neurologist, who is also a board-certified Sleep medicine physician, considers a good night’s rest a pillar to brain health and overall health. We offer sleep medicine services at our offices in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, to treat and resolve a number of sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea.
While you may be putting off your sleep study and OSA diagnosis because you don’t want to use a CPAP, BiPAP, or an oral appliance, you shouldn’t procrastinate any longer. Here are five reasons why you need to treat your OSA now.
First and foremost, OSA treatment allows you to get the sleep your brain and body needs in order to repair or replace damaged or dead cells and remove the toxins you accumulated during the day. When you wake up feeling unrested and sleepy, your body hasn’t gotten enough sleep — or deep enough sleep — to accomplish its tasks.
For instance, your glymphatic system is a waste-clearance system that cleans your brain while you sleep. If you get a good night’s, uninterrupted rest, this system removes soluble proteins and metabolites from your brain so it can function better when you awaken.
When your glymphatic system can’t do its work, and your brain doesn’t get the oxygen it needs due to interruptions or restrictions in your breathing — called apneas and hypopneas — you wake up to brain fog. If you want to sleep more deeply, with fewer to no interruptions, it’s time for OSA treatment.
Because the treatments for sleep apnea either push air through your airways or position your jaw to open your airways so you breathe more fully, your cells get fully oxygenated while you sleep. And when you sleep deeply, you go through all of the circadian cycles that correspond to healthy sleep.
OSA treatment ensures that your body can do what it needs to do at night — repair and restore — so you can awaken with vigor, clarity, and energy.
Research has shown that patients who use CPAP for OSA are less likely to develop dementia than those who don’t. Your brain can’t eliminate proteins if you don’t sleep deeply, which could lead to the protein tangles and plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
If you or your loved one already has dementia, treating sleep apnea can help them function better and may reduce the progression of the disease. In fact, recent research suggests that CPAP use reverses white-matter abnormalities in the brain that are associated with dementia.
Obesity and sleep apnea are linked in a vicious circle. You’re more likely to have OSA if you’re overweight or obese and more likely to become overweight or obese if you have OSA.
When you don’t sleep well, your hormones become unbalanced, including the hormones that control hunger and feelings of satiety. Poor sleep literally leaves you feeling hungrier, and you also don’t feel full after you eat. But eating more than your body needs risks worsening your OSA.
If you already have mild OSA and you gain 10% of your body weight, you increase your risk of progressing to severe OSA by six times. However, if you lose 10% of your body weight, you can improve your OSA by 20%. When you sleep better, you’re less hungry and feel fuller earlier, making it easier to shed excess pounds.
Most important, treating sleep apnea could save your life. Untreated OSA raises your risk for serious illnesses and conditions, including:
If you snore, choke, or gasp during the night, we offer both at-home and in-office sleep tests to diagnose your sleep apnea. Once we get your results, we prescribe the remedy that’s best for your level of severity and needs so you can get the quality rest your brain and the rest of your body need.
Have you been putting off seeing a doctor for OSA? To get effective, individualized care for your sleep apnea ASAP, contact Advanced Medical Care today.
