Around 1.5 million people in the UK are thought to have sleep apnea in this week's video
I'm going to give you more information on this very serious condition, which is quite often missed
okay so before we learn more about sleep apnea, you might be thinking to yourself. why is it such a serious health condition?
well research has shown that obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of conditions that affect your heart and
circulation now, you're probably thinking to yourself. What what does that mean? Well, it basically means an increased risk
of coronary heart disease increased risk of heart failure
Increased risk of strokes as well as high blood pressure and abnormal heartbeats
and also, please remember that sleep apnea isn't only associated with heart conditions it can also lead to depression
sleep the apnea can also make you more prone to having accidents at work or even when driving in fact
it's estimated that in the UK up to 40,000 accidents happen per year on the road whilst people driving the falling asleep due to sleep apnea
so as you can see sleep apnea is very serious, but very few people are actually aware of it
so what is it well in short when we sleep our upper airway relaxes now in obstructive sleep apnea
what happens is those upper air ways either narrow or they collapse
so when this happens it can stop you from breathing for about 10 seconds or more and then your brain realizes your brain realizes and
it wakes you up and you feel like you're choking
gasping or out of breath you then quickly regain your breath and you'll fall back to sleep again
and you usually won't remember any of it unless
someone else is with you and then they tell you about it the next day now the bad news
this cycle can continuously repeat during the night and it can sometimes happen over a hundred times per
night, and it's going to affect your sleep pattern and you might not even realize it's happened all night
so because of this you're not gonna get proper sleep, so you're gonna feel tired all day
you're gonna struggle to concentrate and you might even be dozing off during the day
So what are the other symptoms that you need to look out for?
Well there's snoring making choking noises when you're sleeping having a dry mouth when you wake up
having a headache when you wake up and also having mood swings
throughout the day now if you do have any of these main symptoms
you need to speak to your health care professional because you now know how serious sleep apnea can be but also
don't worry if you do get diagnosed with sleep apnea there are many treatment options available out there
also, if you have forgotten the list of all the symptoms, I will leave it in the description below for you so feel free to read at the end of the video
which leads me on to my next question who's most at risk of developing sleep apnea?
well sleep apnea can happen at any age where generally speaking men aged between 30 and 60 are at increased risk of developing it
There are also other things that can increase your risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea
and i'm gonna speak about them on the next scene. So what puts you at higher risk? Well a few questions
Are you overweight? do you have a large neck circumference? so anything more than 43 centimeters?
do you smoke do you drink a lot of alcohol, especially in the evenings? do you drink alcohol also?
do you have any relatives close relatives that suffer from sleep apnea? and there are other risk factors as well
so if using sedatives to go to sleep if you sleeping on your back and if you have certain medical conditions
these can all increase your risk of getting sleep apnea
now I will leave a full list in the description below for you as well that you can check out at the end of the video now
if you do think you have sleep apnea, you need to speak to your healthcare professional and we mentioned this earlier but there are
also self-care tips that you can do in addition to the treatment that your health care professional has started you on first
So for example losing excessive weight if you are overweight try to reduce your alcohol intake and don't drink any alcohol in the evening
try to quit smoking if you use sedatives to sleep then try to avoid using them and also if you used to sleeping on your back try and sleep on your side now
if you have been to healthcare professional and have ruled out sleep apnea, and you're just a snorer well
the good news is I made a video not long ago about
useful exercises that you can do that can help reduce your snoring and I will leave a link up here and in the description below
definitely check it out. It's got some really useful tips on it. Thank you for watching this week's video sleep apnea is
definitely a topic that we need to spread more awareness on and I really hope this video helps to do that
you now know what to look out for you now know what to do and help spread the word. tell your friends
tell your families tell your loved ones Tell everyone always remember that you're awesome and I will see you next week
well research has shown obstructive sleep apnea is assotiated is assotiated. It's assotiated not associated but assotiated
you then regrain your breath regain your beth
which leads me onto which which I can't even say which today is a very bad day of filming I feel like i off form today I don't know why I am off form
I feel like this shirt is too tight as well hey guys. Thanks for watching this week's video
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