If you’re suffering from sleep apnea, your partner might notice before you do due to the loud snoring. Unfortunately, it’s more than a nighttime annoyance for nearby sleepers; it’s a severe disorder that may actually be causing your body to age much faster than normal. Here’s why sleep apnea therapy in in Allen Park may be important for making sure you live a long and healthy life.
What Happens During Sleep Apnea?
If you suffer from sleep apnea, your breathing will stop and restart repeatedly throughout the night. Most cases are due to the airway becoming blocked in some manner (a condition known as obstructive sleep apnea).
When breathing stops, your organs don’t get the oxygen they need to function properly. Furthermore, your brain will repeatedly wake you up so that the flow of air can resume (these awakenings are brief, so most of the time you won’t remember them). This means you won’t spend enough time in the deeper stages of the sleep cycle that are essential for good physical health and mental alertness.
How Can Sleep Apnea Affect Aging?
So how else can poor quality sleep affect the rest of your body? Recent studies have shown that the irregular breathing associated with obstructive sleep apnea has been linked to accelerated epigenetic aging, meaning that the DNA inside your cells ages faster than it’s supposed to. Women were found to suffer from worse acceleration than men, despite generally being considered at a lower risk for sleep apnea in general.
Your biological age has more of an effect on your health and lifespan than your chronological age; in other words, sleep apnea could potentially be shortening your life. Fortunately, the effects of accelerated aging can be reversed if you receive treatment and make the necessary changes to your lifestyle.
How Can I Treat Sleep Apnea?
A sleep dentist in Allen Park will be able to confirm whether you’re suffering from obstructive sleep apnea and can prescribe an appropriate treatment. While in the past the disorder was primarily treated with CPAP machines, nowadays oral appliance therapy is usually offered as a more convenient and less obstructive solution. Each appliance is customized to reposition your jaws to optimize airflow.
Sometimes you can at least partially treat your sleep apnea with a few lifestyle changes, such as:
- Losing any excess weight
- Regular exercise (even if it doesn’t result in weight loss)
- Avoiding alcohol or medications that relax the throat muscles
- Sleeping on your side
- Giving up smoking
Of course, it’s best to get diagnosis and treatment from a professional. If you’ve received complaints about loud snoring or have been suffering from excessive drowsiness during the day, start looking for a good sleep dentist; it just might help add a few years back to your life.
About the Author
Dr. Frank Stankiewicz is skilled in many different areas of dentistry, including orthodontics, TMJ treatment, and sleep apnea therapy. He’s constantly studying the latest procedure to make sure he only offers the highest quality treatments. If you suspect you’re suffering from sleep apnea or want to ask about oral appliance therapy, schedule an appointment through his practice’s website or by calling (313) 928-6100.
