Hypertension Sleep Apnea | Sleep Apnea Symptoms

The Hypertension Sleep Apnea Link With Obesity

There are a lot of problems that can be associated with sleep. Many of us take for granted getting a good night’s rest every night, but there are those who struggle for any of a number of reasons to get enough good quality sleep to function normally. Sleep apnea is one of the disorders people can get that involve an interruption in sleep patterns.

Sleep apnea is when you basically stop breathing repeatedly throughout the night. By definition it is when you stop breathing at least five times in every hour. This might be due to a neurological problem involving signals sent to the respiratory system, but is most commonly due to obstruction of the airway. As a matter of fact, you might experience mild sleep apnea when you have a respiratory illness.

Of course people aren’t choking on food or other objects while they sleep; it is usually structures in the mouth that are not well supported that collapse and cause the blockage. The result is a reduced amount of oxygen entering the blood stream and reaching the brain and other organs of the body that require it to function properly.

High blood pressure is a common result of sleep disordered breathing. Hypertension sleep apnea is one of the big problems with this condition. It creates a bad environment for oxygen in the blood and increases the blood pressure. It is interesting to note that with hypertension sleep apnea the blood pressure readings do not drop during sleep as they do with other types of hypertension.

It is common for weight to affect the occurrence of sleep apnea. This is because those with more fat stores also tend to have more around their neck which makes a blockage more likely to occur. Studies have done to see the link between hypertension sleep apnea and obesity.

It is also true that obese individuals are significantly more likely to suffer from hypertension. Sleep studies done on overweight people suggest that there is a link between the instances of sleep apnea and hypertension in overweight individuals. This is an interesting thing to consider. If sleep apnea can be treated the hypertension can be improved as well.

Of course one of the top ways to decrease sleep apnea is by losing weight, which would benefit the person in terms of sleep quality as well as blood pressure. It is a bit of a cycle and one that can be broken with weight control and other steps taken to control sleep apnea.

There is certainly a link between hypertension and sleep apnea. Getting a diagnosis and beginning treatment is the best thing that can be done to decrease the chances of stroke and other serious complications brought on by high blood pressure.

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