Although there are some people who might argue to the contrary, the human body really does need at least eight hours of sleep a night in order to be healthy. Those people who seem to survive on four hours of sleep (or less) a night are usually either very hyped up on caffeine, or suffering from a sleeping problem. However, while not being able to sleep is indeed a problem, there are some sleep problems that occur while a person is asleep and completely unaware.
One of the more prevalent sleep disorders that such a scenario would be attributed to is sleep apnea. People who have this disorder stop breathing for a minute or longer at a time while they are asleep. There are many different potential causes of sleep apnea, but one of the most prevalent has to do with being significantly overweight.
Unless you are into meditation, chances are that the only times you have been aware of your breath are when you’re either in a heightened state of excitement, or there is something impairing your breathing. The reason for this is because breathing is taken care of automatically by the parasympathetic nervous system.
In an ideal situation, the brain produces the right signals to give to the parasympathetic nervous system at all times. However, in the case of sleep apnea, something has gone wrong in the transmission of those brain signals, which causes the temporary halt in breathing.
Obesity plays a big part in all of this because of several things. Since the body is carrying around so much extra weight, the heart has to struggle harder to efficiently pump. Many obese people die of heart attacks because the heart is not strong enough to continue beating. A struggling heart means that there are also circulation problems, and a brain cannot properly function without getting enough blood.
Additionally, the brain cannot properly function without getting the right amount of oxygen, so this is where sleep apnea, if left unchecked, can become deadly. Oftentimes, the significant other is who alerts the person that there is something wrong with him or her breathing. For example, a person with sleep apnea might be snoring, all of a sudden stop, and then just as suddenly start snoring again.
In some cases, a person with this condition might actually wake up suddenly when they realize that they were not breathing. However, for people who sleep right through the night, how can they tell if they have this problem? There are two main ways, the first of which being frequent forgetfulness, and the second of which having a feeling of always being tired despite always getting eight hours of sleep a night.
Of course, these symptoms could be indicative of other medical conditions as well, so it is important that the patient be tested at a sleep center. At the sleep center, the patient will be observed via cameras, and electrodes that are attached to the skin. If the patient is indeed found to have this condition, weight loss and medication are considered to be two of the most effective treatments.
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