Do you often have trouble breathing when you sleep? Do you snore loudly or wake up feeling exhausted? If so, you may be suffering from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that can cause a wide range of health problems, including high blood pressure.
High blood pressure can cause a large number of serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and kidney failure. It is essential to find treatment for disordered sleeping as soon as possible to lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of developing these serious conditions.
How Sleep Apnea Affects Blood Pressure
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. This can happen multiple times a night and can lead to several health problems, including high blood pressure. The reason it causes high blood pressure is that it causes a drop in oxygen levels in the blood. When oxygen levels drop, the body releases a hormone called adrenaline, which causes blood pressure levels to rise.
When a person has normal and adequate sleep, blood pressure naturally lowers. Since sleep apnea disrupts the body’s natural sleep cycle, it will affect blood pressure levels throughout the night.
Consequences of High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. It is a serious medical condition that can have a number of adverse consequences if left untreated. Those with sleep apnea are more likely to develop resistant hypertension.
At the most basic level, elevated blood pressure can cause damage to the veins and arteries throughout the body, leading to complications within the cardiovascular system. Additionally, high blood pressure can strain the kidneys and put excessive strain on other organs in the body.
Hypertension often leads to high levels of stress and anxiety, which negatively impacts overall health and wellbeing and can also increase daytime blood pressure levels. For these reasons, it is important to take steps to lower blood pressure by seeking treatment from a medical professional and making lifestyle changes like adopting a healthy diet and engaging in regular exercise.
Through proper treatment and prevention measures, lowering blood pressure levels can significantly reduce the risk of developing serious health complications in the future.
Types of Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
OSA is characterized by frequent episodes of sleep-disordered breathing, or temporary pauses in breathing during sleep. These breathing disruptions can occur many times throughout the night and may lead to a number of dangerous physical and psychological symptoms, including chronic fatigue, sleep deprivation, and difficulty concentrating. The exact cause of obstructive sleep apnea is not yet known, though risk factors such as obesity, alcohol consumption, and genetic predisposition are thought to play a role.
Central Sleep Apnea
CSA is less common and happens when your brain doesn’t send the right signals to your muscles to breathe. It is caused by imbalances in certain aspects of sleep, such as lack of oxygen in the bloodstream or abnormalities in brain signaling. Unlike other sleep disorders, CSA does not depend on obstructions or other physical factors to interfere with sleep. Instead, it affects sleepers purely on a metabolic level. These patients typically have low blood pressure instead of hypertension.
Treat Sleep Apnea and High Blood Pressure at Raleigh Dental Loft
If you are interested in treating sleep apnea, it is important to talk to your doctor. Disordered sleeping is a serious condition that can lead to serious health problems. At Raleigh Dental Loft we offer several solutions, including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, so that you can get a good night’s sleep and improve your overall health.
