It is hard to think that simply by going to sleep at night in central Leeds could be possibly terminal for you in the end, but sleep apnea will get to you at some point if you have problems with your breathing. Snoring, obesity, or heavy medication interferes with your breathing and this may start to disturb your natural rhythm in the night. What happens when you sleep is pure mechanics; your mouth and nose takes in air and then goes to your lungs, pumps oxygen into the blood stream, through the heart and then into the brain that can then ensure your engine runs through the hours of darkness. Block off the air flow though and it puts extra pressure on all these organs; the brain has trouble deciphering the signals, the lungs are asking “where’s the air” and the heart is doing overtime to keep you going. Sleep apnea can stop you breathing for a good 30 seconds and if you don’t do something about it, well you will die in the end from it.
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 oral hygiene problems can become concerns for other parts of you beyond just your mouth.
