Sleep Apnea Affects Your Entire Body!
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when there are pauses in your breathing while you sleep. When a decreased oxygen level is detected from your brain an automatice reflex wakes you up for you to get more air in. What a great survival mechanism that our body has! When your sleep is disrupted it puts stress on your heart causing increased risk of Heart Attack, Stroke, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Depression, and unfortunately more chronic medical issues.
Besides fatigue, people experience mood changes, concentration issues, headaches, and decreased sexual function.
Yes, a CPAP will help push more air into your airway to keep it open. Using a CPAP is putting a bandaid on the main issue that is causing the sleep apnea in the first place.
A 10% decrease in body weight can significantly improve sleep apnea for people who have excess weight or obesity!
Losing weight can decrease the strain on your heart, improve your energy levels, help improve your hormones, and get rid of the CPAP machine! Your partner will will most likely appreciate the CPAP machine being gone but there is also a sense of relief knowing you have decreased your risk to multiple chronic medication conditions.