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Heart Disease and Sleep Apnea: What’s the Connection?

cpcvirginia • Feb 13, 2017

Have you ever woken up to your partner snoring? Or maybe your partner woke you up because YOU were snoring. Either way you look at it, snoring can get a little annoying, especially for someone who has to listen to it. However, snoring stops being annoying when the snorer repeatedly stops breathing for brief moments throughout the night.

As a sign of sleep apnea, snoring can lead to cardiovascular problems, which is potentially life threatening. A person with sleep apnea may experience pauses in breathing five to 30 times per hour or more during sleep.

Sleep Apnea and Heart Disease Connection

When sleep apnea episodes occur, you might not wake up. However, if you do wake up, you might gasp for air. Sleep apnea prevents you from getting a good night’s sleep every night. It can also be associated with high blood pressure, arrhythmia, stroke and heart failure.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America and stroke is the fourth cause. These conditions are the leading cause of disability while high blood pressure is a major risk factor for both. If you find yourself waking up exhausted after a full night’s sleep, contact Dr. Bonnie Foster today. Together we can create a proper treatment plan to help you sleep better at night—suitable oral appliances can help.

Treatment

The connection between sleep apnea and heart disease continues to evolve. Whether sleep apnea actually causes heart disease is still unclear, but we do know that sleep apnea does increase the chance that you will develop hypertension in the future. The evidence is strong for the relationship between sleep apnea and heart disease, so please visit our office for further guidance and help.

Untreated sleep apnea leads to depression and worsening of ADHD

By cpcvirginia • 06 Dec, 2017
You may think that snoring or sleep apnea should not be at the top of your treatment list. However, it is important to make the treatment of your sleep apnea a top priority. Why? Let’s take a look at 5 negative effects that sleep apnea can have on your oral and overall health when treatment […]

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By Warrenton Dental Center • 06 Dec, 2017
Being at risk for temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) increases your likelihood of developing this condition. It is possible to develop TMD with or without the risk factors, but if you do have a number of those listed, it is important to ask your dentist what you might be able to do to reduce your risk. […]

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By Warrenton Dental Center • 28 Nov, 2017
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Is Your TMD Caused by Stress?

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Make lifestyle changes to improve sleep apnea symptoms

By cpcvirginia • 15 Nov, 2017
In addition to sleep apnea treatments it is also important to make lifestyle changes. Through these changes, you can improve your sleep and eliminate your symptoms of sleep apnea—it’s a win/win for your health and your sleep! Here are three lifestyle changes you should start making immediately. Quit Smoking. We have all been told that […]

TMD Could be Interrupting Your Sleep

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It has also been shown that those who suffer from sleep disorders might also be suffering from a problem directly related to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders (TMD). A disorder in the TMJ can cause pain and discomfort in other parts of the body and symptoms, such as sleep apnea, teeth grinding and tension headaches or […]

A Lesson in Sleep Apnea

By Warrenton Dental Center • 10 Nov, 2017
Sleep apnea has been observed since ancient times and, while a treatment or cause was not clear, people were still aware of this condition. In the late 19th century, the term “Pickwickian syndrome” was created to describe symptoms of sleep apnea. Unfortunately, the research mainly concentrated on the patient’s obesity rather than the disordered breathing […]

Think Twice Before Chewing Gum

By cpcvirginia • 06 Sep, 2017
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Sleep Apnea Sufferers need to be Aware of More Health Concerns

By cpcvirginia • 01 Sep, 2017
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