If you wake up exhausted, yawn throughout the day and you can’t even stay focused at work, you might be suffering from sleep apnea.
“They can be moody, they can have blood pressure issues, diabetes,” said sleep specialist Alison Luckey-Percy, of ProHealth Sleep Center in West Hartford.
Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes people to repeatedly stop breathing.
“The tongue can actually go back into that airway and either partially block that space or completely block that space,” Luckey-Percy said.
The result of that blockage is snoring, or even choking in your sleep.
Luckey-Percy said not every person who snores has sleep apnea and suggests getting screened for it and treat the issue before it leads to more serious health issues.
“If you’re not being oxygenated well during the night, it can impact a lot of major organ systems,” she said.
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There are several options for treatment.
On the conservative end, experts might suggest sleeping on your side and avoiding alcohol close to bedtime to help relax the airway or maintaining a healthy body mass index.
More severe cases require a machine or mask to open up that airway. It might seem daunting, but it can be a short-term solution to years of better sleep down the line.
The experts at ProHealth Sleep Center will be offering free screenings at the Health and Wellness Festival on Oct. 17 and 18 at the XL Center in Hartford.