Is Your Snoring Killing You? The Sleep Center in Redlands Can Help You Find Out

Snoring is an annoying habit but what you don’t know is that it could be a symptom of a more serious—even life-threatening—condition. The miVIP sleep center in Redlands can help you find out if your snoring simply keeping your partner from enjoying a restful night or if it’s doing irreparable damage to your body and brain.

People who snore generally know it. Either the noise wakes them up or it keeps their partner falling asleep. People joke about it, laugh about it, and even grumble about it the next morning but hardly anyone ever does anything about it. That’s a shame because snoring is one of the first symptoms people suffering from sleep apnea notice.

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that, if left untreated, can cause or contribute to a host of life-threatening conditions including:

• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• High Blood Pressure
• Diabetes

In fact, recent research by doctors at Midwest Heart Specialists-Advocate Medical Group in Elmhurst, Illinois shows that sleep apnea can dramatically increase a person’s risk of sudden cardiac death, a condition which kills nearly 450 thousand Americans every year.

In addition to the added health risks, people suffering from sleep apnea often have distinctly decreased mental capacities. They have trouble with problem solving, juggling multiple tasks at once, and even remembering simple things.

But these mental side effects could be caused by a something more dangerous than simple sleeplessness. Apnea patients often suffer from decreased blood oxygen levels at night. Oxygen is essential for brain functioning and if deprived for too long a patient’s brain could suffer lasting, irreparable damage.

Unlike other risk factors such as obesity and high blood pressure, sleep apnea is often easily treatable. Simple medical devices or surgical procedures can completely eliminate bothersome obstructions and clear the airways for a pleasant, restful night’s sleep. Patients often report immediate relief from sleepless nights within days.