If you are here, you most likely have at least a nagging suspicion that either you or someone you care about might be suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). You are aware that the symptoms of sleep apnea might have an impact on one’s life quality, but is the condition actually that life-threatening?
The sad reality is that research has proven that untreated sleep apnea is connected to increased mortality risk from any cause. Since “Can you die from sleep apnea?” and “Can sleep apnea kill you?” are not the same question, it is possible to obtain varying answers while addressing this issue.
Today, we’re going to look at what the science community has to say about each of these concerns, what warning signs to watch out for, and when it’s time to consult your primary care physician.
What is Sleep Apnea?
A medical problem known as sleep apnea causes a person to cease breathing for short periods while they are sleeping. The most frequent kind is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which occurs when the soft tissue in the base of the neck relaxes and limits airflow.
Sleep apnea, if left untreated, can raise a person’s risk of a variety of significant and sometimes deadly health problems, including an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and strokes. According to recent studies, heart disease is the primary cause of the deaths of more than 38,000 people in the United States annually.
There are a few different categories of sleep apnea, which include the following:
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Central sleep apnea
- Complex sleep apnea
According to estimates provided by the American Sleep Apnea Association, about 22 million people in the United States suffer from the condition known as sleep apnea. Unfortunately, a significant number of persons who are affected by the illness are unaware that they have it.
Risk Factors Of Sleep Apnea
There are a few things in your life that might potentially place you at a higher risk of getting sleep apnea.
Because the additional tissue might restrict your airway when you lie down, having a high body mass index can increase your risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
The size of your neck might also be an indication of how severe your case of obstructive sleep apnea is.
If it is exceptionally huge, then a greater quantity of tissue has the potential to obstruct the passage of air to your lungs.
When you use sleep aids or sedatives, you risk the chance of aggravating your sleep apnea since these medications cause the muscles in your neck to relax, which increases the likelihood that an obstruction may develop during your sleep.
Alcohol, which can provide the same impact as sedatives and thus should be avoided, can also induce sleep.
Because your nasal passages are closed, and you are forced to breathe via your mouth when you have nasal congestion, this can also contribute to sleep apnea. Congestion in the nasal passages can be brought on by a cold or allergies.
Other potential risk factors include:
- Having a history of sleep apnea in one’s family.
- Being older than 40 years old.
- Being a man.
- Using tobacco.
Can You Die from Sleep Apnea?
There are a lot of people who suffer from sleep apnea, and a lot of those people question if their OSA may lead them to suffocate while they are sleeping. If you have ever had a real-life experience with apnea, you know how true this statement may be.
However, despite the fact that all forms of sleep apnea pose a risk to one’s life, it is exceedingly improbable that a single episode of apnea would cause one to choke to death on its own.
When you have an episode of obstructive apnea, you cease breathing for a while because your upper airway tissues collapse. This results in a decrease in the amount of oxygen in your blood and causes your body to release stress hormones. As a result, you are compelled to wake up and start breathing again before you pass out from lack of oxygen.
Even while it is quite rare that you would pass away from sleep apnea itself, this does not mean that sleep apnea cannot be the cause of your death.
Can Sleep Apnea Kill You?
The same mechanism that wakes you up while in an apnea episode also produces a sudden jump in pulse rate and hypertension, which puts you at a higher risk of having a heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, or heart failure.
In point of fact, according to a research conducted by the Yale School of Medicine, having sleep apnea raises your chance of having a heart attack or passing away by thirty percent over the course of four to five years.
Other research has demonstrated that severe cases of sleep apnea indicate an increase of 81 percent in sudden cardiac mortality and that your likelihood of stroke increases by 6 percent for every point in your apnea-hypopnea index.
However, the most startling finding of all came from a follow-up investigation of a research known as the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort. This investigation discovered that severe sleep apnea was “significantly related with a 3-fold higher all-cause death risk.” Simply put, having severe obstructive sleep apnea increases your risk of dying from any cause three times.
It is easy to see how obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) might increase your chance of developing health conditions such as heart disease, but how exactly does it raise your risk of passing away due to unrelated factors?
Think about the fact that the effects of sleep apnea are not simply physical but mental as well. There is an increased chance of sustaining an injury on the job, becoming involved in a car accident or even taking your own life when you have mental impairment caused by daytime drowsiness.
However, despite the elevated dangers associated with sleep apnea and the simplicity with which treatment alternatives may be located, the same follow-up estimates that approximately 75 percent of persons who have sleep apnea are still undetected.
Consequences Of Untreated Sleep Apnea
A few medical issues might manifest themselves if someone with sleep apnea does not seek treatment for the disease.
If your sleep apnea is left untreated, it can increase your chance of a heart attack or stroke. This is due to the fact that when you stop breathing for a period of time, your blood pressure might rise, and your heart rate can speed up. This is one of the most significant features.
If you aren’t getting enough rest and have a higher risk of developing sleep apnea, you may also be at a higher risk of developing diabetes.
An excessive amount of daytime drowsiness may also raise the risk of harm, such as the danger of being involved in a vehicle accident, falling, or being injured while on the job.
Alterations in your mood, such as irritation or sadness, may also be a possibility. Other potential dangers include the development of a condition called deep vein thrombosis, issues with memory, and changes in your mood.
In the most severe instances, sleep apnea can result in a condition known as congestive heart failure as well as mortality from cardiovascular causes.
When to Consult a Doctor?
In the context of sleep problems, any degree of interference in your waking life is sufficient justification for consulting a qualified medical practitioner. It is quite likely that either your primary care physician or a sleep expert will suggest that you participate in a sleep study. Sleep studies can be conducted in a laboratory setting or even in the privacy and convenience of your own home.
If the research determines that you do indeed suffer from sleep apnea, your physician will almost certainly recommend that you invest in a CPAP machine. CPAP therapy, also known as continuous positive airway pressure, involves the use of a steady stream of airflow in order to keep your airways open while you sleep so that you may continue to breathe normally.
Because of its effectiveness and lack of adverse effects, CPAP is often recommended as a first-line treatment for OSA. Oral appliances, positional treatment, and surgery are all options for those who have avoided being checked because they are worried about being hooked up to a CPAP machine. Sleep apnea treatment choices might vary widely according to the degree and kind of your condition, so it’s important to discuss your preferences and concerns with your doctor.
The Bottom Line
When untreated, sleep apnea can lead to a variety of health problems, the most catastrophic of which would be death.
The majority of people who pass away as a result of sleep apnea have preexisting cardiovascular conditions, which the issue only serves to exacerbate, potentially leading to death from cardiac causes.
If you think you could have sleep apnea, your doctor will examine your sleeping habits to determine whether or not you do, in fact, have the condition.
There is a wide variety of treatment options available for those who suffer from sleep apnea; the one that is most effective for you will be determined by the intensity of your problem. These treatment options range from treatments that are relatively mild, such as positional therapy, to options that are more serious, such as surgery.
If you have any more questions, it would be best if you discussed them with either your general care physician or a sleep medicine expert.
