Has this ever happened to you? While sleeping you suddenly feel that you cannot breathe and your sleep gets disturbed. This is due to sleep apnea. That is a sleep disorder. Not enough oxygen reaches our lungs and brain, due to which we start feeling faint. The brain somehow tries to wake us up, due to which sleep is disrupted.
Mild sleep apnea involves waking up 50 to 100 times a night. As this problem increases, the frequency of sleep disturbances at night also increases. When the problem is severe, a person may wake up more than 250 times a night. Due to which sleep is not complete and one remains tired throughout the day.
Oxygen deficiency is seen in the blood due to frequent stopping of breathing at night. Due to which all the important organs of the body are affected. Due to lack of oxygen in the brain, brain efficiency, memory and attention become weak. Sexual dysfunction starts occurring. Sometimes fatal conditions like heart attack and stroke can also occur.
According to a study by AIIMS published in the renowned journal 'Science Direct', 10.4 crore youth of India are facing sleep apnea. This means that approximately 13% of Indian youth have sleep apnea.
that's why today 'health water' In this we will talk about sleep apnea. You will also learn that-
Before reading the article in detail, let us understand from an incident how costly it can be to ignore sleep apnea.
The world got a big shock due to sleep apnea
It was the spring of 1986, when a terrible explosion occurred at the Chernobyl power plant. In this accident, more than 50 lakh people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus became victims of radiation. For many years afterward, people exposed to its radiation continued to die of cancer. Due to which the Soviet Union suffered a loss worth lakhs of crores of rupees. Its impact was on the entire world.
When this accident was investigated, it was found that the technician handling the on-off switch was a sleep apnea patient and did not sleep for 13 hours. Shortly before switching off, he fell into a deep sleep and continued sleeping. As a result a terrible accident occurred. The main cause of this tragedy is considered to be lack of sleep and sleep apnea. However, the Soviet Union is accused of making such excuses to hide the accident.
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea? Dr., Director of the Department of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Shri Balaji Action Medical Institute, Delhi. Animesh Arya says that sleep apnea can be costly to ignore. Most people do not recognize its symptoms. Therefore they do not get the necessary treatment. What are its characteristics, see in the graphic.
How many types of sleep apnea are there? According to the American National Sleep Foundation, there are three types of sleep apnea. The most common of these is obstructive sleep apnea. Apart from this there is central and complex sleep apnea. See details in graphic-
Sleep apnea can lead to a life-threatening condition Dr. Animesh Arya says that sleep apnea seems to be a very common health condition in the initial days. Most people do not consider snoring to be a big problem, but due to it there is a deficiency of oxygen in our blood every night. Blood supplies oxygen to all the parts of our body. Due to lack of oxygen, the functioning of all body parts starts getting affected.
Since our brain is completely dependent on oxygen to survive, it is most affected by sleep apnea. Due to which conditions like loss of memory, depression and mental confusion start forming.
Sleep apnea can cause problems like high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol. Due to which fatal conditions like heart attack and stroke can also arise. See the graphic to see what other conditions can cause sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea patients should not drive Dr. Animesh Arya says that sleep apnea patients should not drive because they can sleep whenever and wherever they want. Even a few seconds of sleep while driving can put your life at risk. Apart from this, doctors advise their patients not to operate heavy machinery. The blast at the Chernobyl power plant is the biggest example of this.
Sleep apnea patients should also avoid cooking because there is a risk of getting scalded by hot oil or hot water if they fall asleep suddenly in the kitchen.
Plus, check out the graphic to see which tasks they should avoid.
Dr. Animesh Arya says that, if symptoms of sleep apnea appear, it is necessary to seek treatment after consulting a specialist. However, we can reduce the problems caused by this condition by taking some remedies at home. See graphic.
What things to keep in mind when you have sleep apnea? Dr. Animesh Arya says that in this situation, first of all we should pay attention to the quality of sleep. Therefore, decide the appropriate time to sleep and wake up. The sleeping room should be completely dark and we should try to keep the bed in such a position that the side of our head is slightly higher than the feet.
To avoid any fatal situation at night, it is important to have dinner at least two hours before sleeping because in sleep apnea, there is a lack of oxygen in our blood while sleeping. If we have eaten food before sleeping, most of the blood flow for digestion will be around the stomach. Due to this, blood flow to the rest of the body will be reduced and there will be a lack of oxygen. This can create a fatal situation.
Apart from this, we should also take special care of our eating habits. See the graphic about what sleep apnea patients should eat and what they should not eat.
Graphics Source: NavJivanIndia | VaskarAssets
