Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

We spend a third of our lives sleeping. It’s understandable, as it plays a vital role in dictating our overall health and wellbeing. The process of sleep is very complex in the way it restores and renews the body, as well as balancing out our central nervous system, hormonal system and immune systems. A lot of people also don’t realise, is that sleeps plays a crucial role in how we process experiences and consolidate memories. It is widely recommended that you get between 7 and 9 hours sleep a night. Newborns requires as much as 16-18 hours, primary school kids require 10-12 and teenagers 9 hours.

There are several phases of sleep throughout any night sleep. Including 2 lighter phases and a deep sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) phase where dreaming occurs. When an adult is feeling refreshed, it is likely that they have achieved 20% in the lighter phase and 20-25% in the REM sleep.

Sleep disordered breathing is a general term for breathing difficulties occurring during sleep and includes conditions such as snoring, obstructive or central or mixed sleep apnoea and upper airway resistance syndrome. As many as 80% of people with sleep disordered breathing do not know they have it.

Adults and Sleep Apnoea

Sleep disordered signs and symptoms can come in many shapes and sizes: snoring, gasping for air or choking in sleep, teeth grinding, insomnia, restless sleep, night sweats, weight gain, restless legs, nocturia, daytime sleepiness, feeling tired in the morning, easily fatigued, daytime naps, irritability, poor memory and concentration, confusion, mood and personality changes (e.g. depression and anxiety), headaches, sexual dysfunction and much more…

Adults who do not take the step to treat disordered breathing may experience the following:

• high blood pressure,
• heart failure,
• heart attack,
• heart rhythm disturbances,
• atherosclerotic heart disease,
• high cholesterol,
• difficulty losing weight,
• stroke,
• cognitive impairment (memory loss),
• gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),
• hormonal imbalances,
• head and neck pain,
• macular degeneration,
• glaucoma, depression,
• Alzheimer’s, sudden death

Sleep Apnoea in Children

Snoring and grinding of teeth is not normal behaviour in children. Often, children who do have signs of disordered breathing may do the following:

snoring, sleep talking, sleep walking, night terrors, restless sleep, teeth grinding causing worn down teeth (bruxism), reflux, swallowing problems, mouth breathing, dark circles under the eyes, chronic allergies, difficulties with concentration, behavioural problems (e.g. ADHD), bed wetting, daytime sleepiness, feeling tired in the morning, performing poorly at school, headaches, ear infections, hearing problems, crooked teeth and much more…

It is very important to treat sleep disordered breathing as it is important to promote normal development in children growth.

To understand this process more, we recommend watching the following video by the American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry to give a full understanding of sleep apnoea in children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk5qsmRyVcE