do you snore really loudly at night and
are you also waking up multiple times to
urinate well guess what they might be
more related than you ever thought I'm
Dr Rena Malek urologist and pelvic
surgeon and today we're going to talk
about how a condition called obstructive
sleep apnea can impact your bladder
function at the end I'm going to let you
know what you can do to help yourself
stop waking up at night so you can
improve your ability to get some
well-deserved rest also I have some
interesting personal news which I'll be
sharing also at the end of the video if
you're interested stick around to find
out to start off let's go over what
obstructive sleep apnea is sleep apnea
is essentially a sleep disorder where a
person experiences pauses in breathing
or shallow breaths during sleep now
these events usually last for at least
10 seconds between breaths and actually
reduce the amount of breath you're
taking in these are often followed by
brief Awakenings that last at least
three seconds now these interruptions
can happen multiple times throughout the
night and can really disrupt your normal
sleep cycle you might actually have
sleep apnea if you've been told you
snore loudly or you feel exhausted all
day long or sometimes you'll even wake
up with headaches in the morning also if
you have kind of generally a very large
neck circumference that's a sign that
you very likely have sleep apnea now
sleep apnea is the most common breathing
related sleep disorder and it affects
approximately 15 to 30 percent of men
and 10 to 15 percent of women in North
America now this is a serious condition
because it's a risk factor for a lot of
really serious problems like high blood
pressure heart disease stroke and
Studies have even shown a three times
higher risk of death associated with
having sleep apnea so if you have these
symptoms but you don't have any urinary
issues I still encourage you to see your
doctor to get a sleep study and get
treated if you are suffering with sleep
apnea now Studies have shown that sleep
apnea can also have an impact on bladder
function particularly waking up at night
to urinate frequently now one of the
prevailing theories as to why this
happens is that when there is a blockage
or obstruction in the Airways during
sleep it creates a negative pressure in
the chest and it makes the body work
harder to breathe so now the body's
working harder and it sends a signal to
the heart that there's too much fluid in
the body in response the body says hey
I'm going to release some different
signals called atrial naturitic peptide
and it also inhibits the secretion of
antidiuretic hormone and aldosterone
which can lead to increased urine
production and ultimately the need to
wake up more often at night to empty
your bladder so the disease State itself
also causes reduced oxygenation
throughout the night because you're not
breathing for a certain period
throughout the night and this can
actually prevent reabsorption of sodium
in the kidney I mean there's more sodium
in the urine which cause causes more
water to be drawn into the urine making
more urine volume now waking up at night
to urinate might just seem like a huge
bother but in reality it's a serious
problem that's because we know that
particularly in older patients who wake
up two or more times at night there is a
significantly higher risk of Falls and
hip fractures and that is not a small
issue I've seen so many patients in the
hospital after a fall and they're there
for long periods of time and it takes
them a long time to recover so even
though the nighttime urination is a
problem there's also been some small
studies that suggest particularly with
severe sleep apnea they can also affect
daytime symptoms meaning that you'll
have more urgency more urgency
incontinence and more frequency meaning
you're going to the bathroom more often
and you're getting this urge to go that
you can't delay now here's the kicker
treating your obstructive sleep apnea
with a CPAP machine or a machine you
wear at night that helps reduce the
those episodes were used to reduce your
breathing can significantly improve your
urinary symptoms and it does this by
decreasing the amount of urine
production overnight and that makes
sense because the hormonal changes that
would normally cause you to make more
urine are getting reversed allowing your
body to concentrate urine better
overnight and then reduce the amount
you're making and wake up less so if
you've got symptoms of sleep apnea and
you're waking up at night to urinate
don't wait go see your doctor right away
get evaluated because not only might you
improve your quality of life in terms of
sleeping at night with better sleep but
you might also improve your overall
health so you're at a lower risk of
things like heart disease and high blood
pressure so I promise you guys an update
this is actually the last video you're
going to see of me in this background
because I am moving to Southern
California where I will be seeing
patients in my own practice as well as
at the veterans hospital so I know many
of you often ask to see me or ask
questions I will be also offering
educational visits and I will be seeing
patients virtually as well as in person
I will be starting off virtually and
I'll be seeing patients from Maryland
New York Texas California Virginia and
New Jersey and maybe Illinois we're
still waiting on that one so if you want
to see me feel free to schedule an
appointment and I look forward to
meeting you if you enjoyed this video
you might also enjoy my video on how
stroke affects your bladder and as
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Channel with your friends and as always
remember to take care of yourself
because you're worth it