Can you live a long life with sleep apnea?

The impact on life expectancy with untreated severe sleep apnea is even more profound: It roughly doubles your risk of death. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, studies have established that sleep apnea typically decreases life expectancy by several years.

Can you live a full life with sleep apnea?

If left untreated, obstructive sleep apnea can shorten your life from anywhere between 12-15 years. While there is no permanent cure for obstructive sleep apnea, diagnosis and treatment will alleviate its effects. Proper treatment can ensure that your OSA won't shorten your life.

Does sleep apnea get worse with age?

The prevalence of sleep apnoea increases with age, although the severity of the disorder, as well as the morbidity and mortality associated with it, may actually decrease in the elderly. A decline in cognitive functioning in older adults with sleep apnoea may resemble dementia.

Can you live with sleep apnea without treatment?

Whether or not you need treatment for sleep apnea depends on its severity, whether or not you have symptoms such as sleepiness and other health conditions. For example, if you have risk factors for heart disease, your doctor might opt to treat you even for mild sleep apnea.

What is the death rate of sleep apnea?

The American Sleep Apnea Association estimates that 38,000 people in the United States die each year from heart disease with sleep apnea as a complicating factor. People with sleep apnea have difficulty breathing or stop breathing for short periods while sleeping. This treatable sleep disorder often goes undiagnosed.

Sleep Apnea Will Ruin Your Life!

What is the newest treatment for sleep apnea?

For years, the most common treatment for millions of people with sleep apnea involved wearing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask. That is, until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new, maskless treatment option -- the Inspire upper airway stimulation device.

Does CPAP reduce life expectancy?

Use of the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask was tied to a 62% decline in the odds for death over 11 years of follow-up. That benefit held even after factoring in health risk factors such as heart disease, weight, diabetes and high blood pressure, said a French team of investigators led by Dr.

Do people with CPAP machines live longer?

These studies have added to the already large body of research that describes the health benefits of regular CPAP use by people with sleep apnea. But can CPAP really save your life? “Yes,” said Collop. “If you have severe enough sleep apnea, CPAP is a very effective therapy that reduces cardiovascular risks.”

What is the success rate of CPAP?

While CPAP is highly successful when used properly, many patients have trouble complying with the directives, leaving only 23% - 45% of patients who have success with the CPAP method. When used as directed, however, the success rate of CPAP is nearly 100%!

What age is sleep apnea most common?

Anyone at any age can have obstructive sleep apnea, but it's most common in middle-aged and older adults. Only about 2% of children have obstructive sleep apnea. It's also more common in men than in women.

What is the average age of people with sleep apnea?

Sleep Apnea by Age and Sex

Sleep apnea rate significantly increases as we age. 10% of men age 30-49 are likely to have sleep apnea, while 3% of women in the same age range are likely to have sleep apnea. 17% of men and 9% of women age 50-70 are likely to have sleep apnea.

What is the main cause of sleep apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of your throat relax too much to allow normal breathing. These muscles support structures including the back of the roof of your mouth (soft palate), the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils and the tongue.

Does sleep apnea mean your heart stops?

Researchers suspect sleep apnea causes abnormal heart rhythms, which lead to sudden cardiac death, for a number of reasons. “Sleep apnea may lower oxygen levels, activate the fight-or-flight response and change pressure in the chest when the upper airway closes, stressing the heart mechanically,” he explains.

Is sleep apnea a big deal?

Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition. Complications of OSA can include: Daytime fatigue. The repeated awakenings associated with sleep apnea make typical, restorative sleep impossible, in turn making severe daytime drowsiness, fatigue and irritability likely.

Do people with sleep apnea have shorter lives?

The impact on life expectancy with untreated severe sleep apnea is even more profound: It roughly doubles your risk of death. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, studies have established that sleep apnea typically decreases life expectancy by several years.

Can CPAP reverse aging?

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that untreated OSA accelerates the biological aging process and that just one year of CPAP treatment can slow or possibly reverse the trend.

Why does CPAP cause weight gain?

First, the increased air pressure from the CPAP machine may make it more difficult for the body to expel air, leading to an increase in body mass. Second, CPAP therapy can cause less deep sleep, often linked to increases in body weight.

What are the long term effects of using CPAP?

Nasal side effects. A substantial number of OSA patients using CPAP suffer nasopharyngeal symptoms such as nasal dryness, rhinorrhoea and congestion, and dry mouth and throat.

Should CPAP be used every night?

Evidence suggests that, to maintain treatment effects, nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) needs to be used every night.

When should I stop using CPAP?

As long as you have sleep apnea, you will continue to need to use CPAP therapy. That being said, you can discontinue the use of your CPAP machine if your sleep apnea becomes cured or enters remission.

Does sleep apnea happen every night?

What is sleep apnea? Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder. People who have sleep apnea stop breathing for 10 to 30 seconds at a time while they are sleeping. These short stops in breathing can happen up to 400 times every night.

What can I use instead of CPAP machine?

What is the number one treatment for sleep apnea?

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Although CPAP is the most common and reliable method of treating sleep apnea, some people find it cumbersome or uncomfortable.

Is there a surgical fix for sleep apnea?

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or UP3 (UPPP) is a procedure designed to open the throat to allow improved breathing in patients with OSA. During this procedure, excess tissue in the throat is removed to widen the airway and allow air to move through the throat more easily.