If you are a person who often wakes from sleep still feeling tired, needs naps during the day time, falls asleep in front of the tv, in meetings or when reading a book, or have been told that you snore, then this is important to read.

Sleep Disordered Breathing is characterised by sleep disruption caused by an airway obstruction. As you fall asleep, you experience a loss of muscle tone called airway patency. The soft tissues in your airway relax against the tongue, partially or completely cutting off air flow to your lungs. Levels of Sleep Disordered Breathing can range from mild to severe, and include snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS), and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Snoring is always indicative of the development or existence of a sleep breathing problem. UARS is more common amongst younger women, and is often accompanied by headaches, gastric reflux and asthma. OSA is characterised by brief interruptions to breathing during sleep, with repeated periods of no breathing for at least 10 seconds at a time. It occurs when the airway collapses and prevents air from getting into your lungs. These apnoeic events can last longer than one minute and represent a serious risk to your health. Fortunately, this condition can be easily identified by your sleep dentist in collaboration with a specialist sleep physician, and effectively treated.

Symptoms

• Excessively loud snoring
• Gasping for breath or choking during sleep
• Frequent awakening during the night
• Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
• Headaches
• Limited attention spans
• Memory loss

Sleep disordered breathing has been linked to:

• Cardiovascular Disease
• High Blood Pressure or hypertension
• Ischemic Stroke
• Depression
• Sexual Dysfunction
• Gastric Reflux
• Increased Mortality