There are a number of reasons why a person may not sleep well during the night. If you’re a pet owner like myself, the tossing and turning may be caused by a lack of room available on the bed. Or maybe you suffer from night tremors or the popular appearance of nightmares. Whatever the reason, a lack of sleep can be very damaging to a person’s daily activities and a new study shows that sleep disorders may also lead to a number of health problems, even death.

According to a recent medical article, people suffering from sleep apnea, are three times more likely to die prematurely and the risk for medical problems and death increases if the disorder is not treated. Sleep apnea is a common sleeping disorder that causes frequent pauses in breathing during sleep and can often bring on the action of snoring. Researchers conducted a study in which a random sample of 1,522 men and women between 30 and 60 years of age spent one night at a sleep laboratory and every person was screened for sleep apnea. The patients were divided into groups depending on the severity of the disease. After 18 years of follow up, researchers had discovered that 80 of the people in the study had died, thus supporting the conclusion that people with severe cases of sleep apnea are at a greater risk for death than those without sleep apnea. Researchers also found that 42% of the participants that had passed were due to heart disease, creating a very strong link between heart-related diseases and sleep apnea.

Who would have ever thought that snoring could be so dangerous? Thankfully, there are ways to help treat sleep apnea including using a device know as a CPAP, a continuous positive airway pressure system. The main function of the CPAP is to keep a person’s airwaves open while resting, which greatly reduces the amount of pauses in breathing.

So the next time you hear someone snoring, feel free to gently nudge him or her, or toss a pillow at them to wake them up. If they get upset, just politely remind them that your actions may be saving his or her life.

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Tags: Group Health, Health, Health News //