What organs are affected by sleep apnea?

If you have sleep apnea, you're more likely to have fatty liver disease, liver scarring, and higher-than-normal levels of liver enzymes. Apnea can also worsen heartburn and other symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which can interrupt your sleep even more.

What organ system does sleep apnea affect?

High blood pressure or heart problems.

Sudden drops in blood oxygen levels that occur during OSA increase blood pressure and strain the cardiovascular system. Having OSA increases your risk of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.

What health issues can sleep apnea cause?

What is the most serious potential consequences of sleep apnea?

There are serious potential consequences to undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea. Besides making sleep difficult, it can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and result in early death.

What is the danger of sleep apnea is left untreated?

Sleep apnea, cardiovascular risk and metabolism

Several studies have shown an association between sleep apnea and problems like type 2 diabetes , strokes , heart attacks and even a shortened lifespan, says Jun.

Body Basics: What is sleep apnea and how does it affect your body?

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 sleep apnea affect your liver?

Obstructive sleep apnea can induce non-alcoholic fatty liver disease through increasing insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and inflammation. The presence of metabolic syndrome and obesity with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can aggravate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

How many years does sleep apnea take off your life?

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.

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.

What does sleep apnea fatigue feel like?

You wake up enough to take a few breaths, but not enough to remember it the next morning. This cycle repeats itself many times each night, making you feel tired or exhausted in the morning. When you have OSA the apnea is caused by an obstruction or blockage.

What is the number one cause of sleep apnea?

In adults, the most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea is excess weight and obesity, which is associated with the soft tissue of the mouth and throat. During sleep, when throat and tongue muscles are more relaxed, this soft tissue can cause the airway to become blocked.

Is sleep apnea reversible?

Brain damage caused by severe sleep apnea is reversible. DARIEN, IL – A neuroimaging study is the first to show that white matter damage caused by severe obstructive sleep apnea can be reversed by continuous positive airway pressure therapy.

What does sleep apnea do to your brain?

These breathing pauses can prevent your body from supplying enough oxygen to the brain. In severe cases this lack of oxygen can lead to brain damage. Signs of this damage include memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and moodiness.

Can sleep apnea affect your legs?

If these results are generalizable, obstructive sleep apnea is frequently associated with bilateral leg edema and obesity, regardless of the presence of pulmonary hypertension. Thus, especially in obese patients, bilateral leg edema may be a useful clinical marker for underlying obstructive sleep apnea.

Can sleep apnea affect your gut?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleep condition affecting more than one billion people worldwide. Evidence suggests OSA can alter the gut microbiome (GM) and may promote OSA-associated morbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and cognitive problems.

What are the 2 major factor for sleep apnea?

The major risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea are obesity, a family history of snoring or apnea, and being male.

Can you live with sleep apnea without treatment?

Sleep apnea, particularly when the disorder goes undiagnosed or untreated, has been linked to a wide-array of health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even glaucoma, and it may also increase your risk of death.

Does apnea stop before death?

A dying person's breathing will change from a normal rate and rhythm to a new pattern, where you may observe several rapid breaths followed by a period of no breathing (apnea). These periods of apnea will eventually increase from a few seconds to more extended periods during which no breath is taken.

Can sleep apnea cause sudden death?

Sleep apnoea is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and all-cause sudden death, with a marginally significant dose–response relationship, where those with severe sleep apnoea are at the highest risk of mortality.

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.

Does sleep apnea cause weight gain?

Obstructive sleep apnea can also contribute to weight gain and obesity. Research has shown that approximately 40 percent of the people living with obesity also have obstructive sleep apnea, and 70 percent of people with obstructive sleep apnea are obese.

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.

Can sleep apnea raise liver enzymes?

2013, obstructive sleep apnoea was seen to give rise to increase in liver enzymes and fibrosis of the liver due to fat. In this study, the researchers identified 11 studies, from which they extracted information about numbers of control subjects and OSA patients, and ALT, AST, and NAFLD.

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 happens to your heart when you have sleep apnea?

It is thought that the frequent drops in low oxygen levels during sleep damages the blood vessels that supply the heart. Also each time the oxygen level drops, your body tells your heart to beat faster and your blood pressure to go up. Stress on the heart from severe OSA can also cause the heart to get enlarged.