Searching For an Answer - Causes of Sleep Apnea

[Dreamcatcher]

I cruise around the net most mornings for answers to questions that I have and most mornings I come away with more questions. Except the other day I came across something that was very interesting, heres a snippet:

•When we have poor blood circulation it has an effect on our sleeping patterns. It may even cause sleep disorders like sleep apnea.

This is being looked at very closely at the moment which got me very interested as I have always had poor circulation. Always get cold hands and feet sometimes get RLS while trying to sleep, which Im told could be another tick for Bad circulation.

"The sleep process deals with the brain, which is made up of brain cells. If a sleep problem exists, it has something to do with the brain cells. In order for these cells to send and receive all messages in a proper manner, they need to be nourished by oxygen and essential nutrients. This is why when blood vessels are blocked on the way to the brain, the processes will not function efficiently. This causes blood vessel plaque to buildup from fat and cholesterol and is just another reason why sleep trouble can be dangerous."

It seems that Im ticking lots of boxes of late to the cause of sleep apnea.

Large Neck
Snoring
Poor Circulation
Overweight (Slight)
Stress

It seems that anyone of these could have triggered my trip down cpap lane it would be nice though if I could pin point the exact point when I fell over the edge, Hopefully one day I will find my answer

[PollCat]

Thanks, DC, I'm going to show this to my wife. She's been procrastinating about getting a sleep study done.

[SuperSleeper]

Good questions, DC. I updated the title slightly to better reflect the subject matter.

Seems very logical to me that poor blood circulation can be a major factor in a lot of health issues. The life of the flesh is in the blood. Reduce that blood flow and cells eventually die or become vulnerable to disease.

[Sleepster]

It seems that Im ticking lots of boxes of late to the cause of sleep apnea.

Large Neck
Snoring
Poor Circulation
Overweight (Slight)
Stress

A sleep study will tell you what kind of sleep apnea you have. If what you have is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) then I can see how any of these factors might contribute to it (except for snoring, which is a symptom of, but not a cause of, OSA).

The thing is, there's no doubt that the remedies for these maladies will improve the quality of your life. OSA is itself a malady, and a remedy is CPAP therapy. Even if you didn't have OSA, you'd still want to reduce stress and bring your weight down to a healthy level to improve the quality of your life.

My point is that adopting these strategies will improve the quality of your life, even if they aren't in anyway related to OSA.