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

What are the signs of a sleep disorder?

Sleep disordered signs and symptoms can come in many shapes and sizes such as gasping for air or choking in sleep but most commonly snoring. Some more subtle signs include:

• teeth grinding or head & neck pain
• insomnia or restless sleep/legs, night sweats, weight gain
• Waking tired in the morning or easily fatigued
• Regular need for daytime naps or daytime sleepiness
• Irritability, poor memory, and concentration and many more.

“The most common reason people don’t seek treatment for sleeps related disorders is they think a sleep pap machines is the only solution”.

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

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

The most common problem that we come across is snoring! This can have negative impacts on relationships and affect the quality of life and health of both individuals.

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

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