The body has an incredible way of slipping itself into automatic and doing things that you may well be ignorant and oblivious to: sleep is a perfect example of this. Your heart brain and lungs work in perfect unison when you close your eyes at night, pushing air and blood silently around your system. The danger is though, it’s a healthy body that does this, obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle can chuck a spanner into the works and should any of this automated system become blocked, it places a big strain on the system as it tries hard to adjust- now you are running the gauntlet of sleep apnea…and it’s a killer in central Leeds. Over a long period of imbalance, the stresses of the system will become too much and it’s normally the heart that gives up first. A blockage to the air taken in through your mouth can cause the breathing to literally halt for up to 30 seconds and though you may be blissfully unaware whilst you sleep, the heart and brain panics- ‘where’s my air and blood?!!’ and then they have to put in an extra shift to fire you up again. In time, it your breathing will then become adjusted to this and you will soon be breathing to this new stressful regime during the day too: all the time, your heart will become overworked and fail. You will also find yourself moody and fatigued. Only by seeing your dentist and doctor will you be able to undergo monitored sleep therapy and be able to tackle the problem. The scary thing is though being able to identify it in the first place.
There are a lot of things that go on in our bodies that we take for granted in Leeds; from walking, talking, digesting…we just expect our bodies to perform naturally, and this also goes for when we fall asleep at night, we naturally assume we’ll wake up the next morning rejuvenated. However, if you find yourself waking up with headaches, still tired, grumpy and then as the day progresses, you still feel fatigued, then this is a sign that your body may not be working quite so naturally when you were asleep and, you may be suffering from Sleep Apnea. This is a condition that involves the way the brainstem regulates the breathing in the lungs and then the way the blood is pumped around the body by the heart, and if one part of this is interfered with, it can intermittently stop you breathing up to 10 seconds at a time and as all three of these organs rely on each other to function, the whole body can become confused. This is extremely dangerous because it can lead to the heart failing altogether. One of the main ways is to keep the airwaves free at night; a dentist can prescribe a device to aid the breathing, in some cases, medication can help, but in serious cases, surgery may be required
All of your body is linked together in one system and a problem in one part can affect the smooth running of other parts of the body. Dentists are keen to let their patients know this so that they can be aware of the added importance of maintaining their good oral health. Read on to find about some examples of the links between dental health and the general health of your body.
Your dentist has all sorts of things to look out for in your mouth when you go and see him or her for your six month check up. Things like tooth decay and gum disease are obvious but many people don’t know that dentists can also spot the signs of sleep apnea, a debilitating condition which interrupts sleep. Read on to find out more information about it.
Sleep apnea is one of those conditions, like snoring and teeth grinding that you may be blissfully unaware of, until you happen to share a room with another person. It is a condition that refers to the irregularity of the way you breathe- more commonly recognised as the pauses between breathing or it can be abnormally slow breathing, whilst sleeping. When you ‘drop off’ at night, you’re body goes into automatic. Your brain signals the lungs to draw air, so that the heart can continue to pump blood around the body. Stop the flow of air and all three hit the panic button, as they all rely on each other to function. You really, needn’t be told how serious an irregular heartbeat can be, especially when you are unconscious, because you can’t do anything about. If you are showing signs of extreme tiredness and fatigue when you wake and that persists throughout the day, you may be a victim of sleep apnea. Firstly, you may be referred to a sleep clinic to assess the problem, after which it can be treated- though there are a lot of methods to address the problem. Lifestyle and diet change are the more common suggestions after you have put yourself through a life management program. Exercise is also recommended, to understand the way you breathe. A dentist can also recommend a breathing device along with certain medications to keep the airways free at night. More radically, the problem may require surgery.
A lot of people in Leeds live alone these days, that’s not to say that they aren’t happy with the arrangement, but it does make them vulnerable when it comes to problems that occur in the body while they sleep. You may not know if you snore, which is fine, because you don’t have a long term suffering partner that has to deal with it. But irregular sleeping patterns can lead to serious health issues. One of the symptoms is tiredness and extreme fatigue throughout the day, which may indicate the presence of sleep apnea. The heart, lungs and heart monitor each other as you sleep and rely on communication. Break the cycle and the system is in danger of shutting down altogether. Which is why it’s important to keep the airwaves free from blockage, because as soon as the air stops getting to the brain, it panics and sends emergency signals to the heart to pump more blood and air around the body. If any of these elements break down and the breathing stops, so will the heart, which then becomes life threatening. You can cope with irregular breathing when awake, because you are conscious of the problem. When you are asleep however, you are reliant on your heart, brain, lungs that in turn rely on the intake of air into the body. Breathing problems can be addressed by consulting with your dentist who may well prescribe a device to enable you to breathe more freely. This is also important for the flow of saliva in the mouth too, keeping your mouth and teeth in a natural state of flux to aid your breathing.
All the different parts of your body are linked together in innumerable ways, through the blood stream, nervous system and beyond. No part of your body is an island, isolated from the rest of it and a problem in one part of your body can affect others. You should get any health problems treated so it cannot affect the rest of you. This is true of your mouth as much as anywhere else as 
Suffering from severely broken sleep patterns can have a serious impact on your life. If you experience such inconvenience it is possible that you have sleep apnea, a condition in which the muscles at the rear of the mouth relax during sleep and prevent adequate amounts of oxygen from reaching the lungs. There is a link between the condition and heart failure.
