Do you snore?
Well, it could be a sleep disorder. And the most likely sleep disorder associated with snoring is sleep apnea.
And though many seem to believe that every snoring means sleep apnea, the truth is snoring doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve sleep apnea. That’s what we’re going to understand from this blog post.
However, before we start with the myths and then debunk them, let’s first understand what constitutes sleep apnea.
What is Sleep Apnea?
A quick Google search will tell you that it is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts, and its symptoms include snoring loudly and feeling tired even after a full night’s sleep.
More than 10 million cases of sleep apnea are reported every year in Australia. More on sleep apnea here.
10 million cases every year! What’s more disappointing is that a large number of people in Australia aren’t aware of sleep disorders, the urgency of the diagnosis and their treatments and that if they snore loudly, they need to get it tested for sleep apnea.
Now let’s come to the myths and facts associated with snoring and sleep apnea.
The myths and facts
- Normal snoring doesn’t necessarily hint on the presence of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea, however, almost always includes snoring as its symptom
- Normal snoring isn’t silent, while in sleep apnea, you may be completely silent
- Ordinary sleeping isn’t usually a disorder, while sleep apnea is indeed a sleep disorder that needs to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible, at a sleep clinic else it can turn chronic and may make you susceptible to a bundle of life threatening diseases including diabetes.
- If it’s ordinary snoring, you snore all the time you’re sleeping. However, sleep apnea-related snoring occurs mostly during REM sleep stage
- You don’t need therapies like positive airway pressure or CPAP in ordinary snoring. But you do need CPAP and other devices if you’ve sleep apnea to induce a good night’s sleep
If you or your partner or someone in your family snores loudly or wakes up gasping for air in the middle of the night or cannot sleep property due to consistent nightmares, he / she may have a sleep disorder and the earlier it is diagnosed and treated, the better the outcomes are likely to be.
As have been pointed again and again in this post, snoring doesn’t necessarily mean sleep apnea however, if it’s bothering you or your partner and affecting your daily life, then you better reach out to a sleep specialist in Gold Coast or Queensland.
Aviss Health is one good choice, and has a panel of highly qualified and passionate sleep doctors and staff and infrastructure.
To discuss further on the relationship of snoring and sleep apnea, you can reach out to us any time at our sleep centre in Gold Coast. Our numbers are:
M: 9871-61-3322, 9871-16-2255
T: 0124-4104679
E-mail:wecare@avisshealth.com
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