A good night's sleep: the importance of sleep

The medical community and supporters of healthy lifestyle see mounting evidence. Our spouses and children to recognize symptoms, even when they do not know the cause. All agree: we need a good night's sleep!

When we do not get a full night of sleep can dramatically affect our health and jeopardize our mental function and performance. It can spoil our relations with our loved ones. Research also points to a myriad of physical health problems caused by a lack of sleep, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

What are good sleep "?

A good night's sleep is not only determined by the length of time one is sleeping, but as restful, deep, uninterrupted sleep is for the whole night. The minimum amount necessary for average sleep a sleep "is even, between 7 and 8 hours for adults, adolescents, children and infants who need sleep, according to the American Association of sleep.

Lack of sleep can be caused by not only getting to bed when one should due to bad habits like watching TV until the wee hours of the night. Some medicines, foods, smoking and alcohol can all affect your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or the quiet sleep. Stress is also a big contributor. Usually a person can change their routines, and those with insomnia or stress-related cases can usually be dealt with over the counter or prescription drugs. When the lack of sleep, snoring is caused by the issue becomes even more complicated, and the health consequences are much more severe.

Snoring-a major cause of sleep deprivation

Unlike a sleep disorder, snoring is a physical condition. It is caused when your throat relaxes and falls into the airway in the back of the throat, causing a vibration in soft tissue during sleep. This vibration is an interruption of airflow through the nose and throat.

It is estimated that more than 40 million Americans snore. Interrupts, snoring sleep throughout the night, leaving the snorer with the same mental and physical conditions, like someone who is deprived of sleep. There are numerous causes of snoring as deviated nasal septum, nasal polyps or turbinate. Sinusitis and allergies can cause snoring how can anatomical factors such as the neck muscles relaxed, an abnormally large or tonsils and obesity because overweight can restrict the windpipe. Smoking, alcohol, sedatives or some sedating antihistamines can lower the muscle tone in the upper respiratory tract and also cause snoring.

Sleep Apnea is the most common cause of snoring and even more dangerous. People who suffer from sleep apnea stop breathing dozens of times during sleep, and is particularly serious and dangerous when there are more than twenty or thirty events per hour for life. There are three types of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and mixed with OSA, being the more serious because it makes the blood pressure, heart and lungs.

The consequences

Without enough sleep we loose our ability to concentrate and suffers from our physical performance. Sleep is necessary for the nervous system to function properly. For example, the ability to do math and operate a car are compromised. Other symptoms include daytime drowsiness, morning headaches, irritability and poor memory. A person with sleep deprivation can burn out easily, and can lead to feelings of depression, mood swings and even hallucinations.

Unfortunately, lack of sleep is caused by snoring, often a person doesn't even know that snoring, unless they say from a partner. Even when a person knows they snore, often go untreated because they are embarrassed and hide it or do not know is a serious problem, so they ignore it.

In the case of sleep apnea, there is also more of a toll on the body. Whereas a patient of apnea cannot breathe many times throughout the night, their sleep is interrupted by episodes of waking up gasping for air. This oxygen deprivation combined with the inability to get a good night's sleep, causes severe sleep deprivation and other health problems. Sleep Apnea can lead to high blood pressure because during the events of apnea, drops of blood and oxygen to be abnormally low, resulting in an increase in blood pressure that can carry out the coup. May cause lung dysfunction due to low blood oxygen levels and high concentrations of carbon dioxide in lung tissue. Since the heart is sensitive to oxygen levels in the blood, sleep apnea is more dangerous in people who already are at risk of heart disease. Arrhythmia is very common, as well as the enlargement of the heart. About 80-85% of sleep apnea patients go untreated, which today is a serious health problem in the United States.

Fortunately, as we learned more about the consequences of sleep deprivation and snoring, today there is also a wide variety of non-surgical treatment and surgery available for those suffering from snoring. If you suspect that snore at night, or was told by a loved one you do, it is important to talk with your doctor. He or she may recommend to an ear, nose and throat doctor or Otolaryngologist who will provide you with a correct diagnosis and start on the path to a lifetime of healthy sleep.

David Fox, M.D., F.A.C.S., P.C. is a Board Certified surgeon-Otolaryngology with ear, nose and throat practices, Otolaryngology Associates, Upper West Side and Upper East Side and is a member of the teaching staff of the best hospitals in New York City. Realizing that there is a lack of information from the public about the potential severity of snoring, he founded the snoring of Manhattan and Central sleep apnea to be a place where patients can go for snoring expertsdiagnosis and treatment. As a recognized authority throughout the country for his work in snoring disorder, he is also the author of the book definitive guide on diagnosis and treatment of snore: Wake Up! You're snoring.

He is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the American Medical Association (AMA), the American College of Surgeons, the medical society of New York, New York County Medical Society, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and neck surgery, reconstructive plastic surgeons and the American Academy of facial and the American Rhinologic Society.

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