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What causes Sleep Disorders?
Sleep fact : In sleep apnea, the effort to breathe is similar to slurping a drink through a floppy wet straw.
Here is what causes sleep apnea, the most common sleep disorder.
- The muscles used in breathing relax more during sleep than they do during waking hours. Specifically, the fleshy tissue that hangs from the center of the soft palate relaxes and sags.
- In some people, the muscles relax too much. This relaxation interferes with breathing and makes sleep a time of increased risk.
- In these cases, collapse of the airway walls blocks breathing entirely. As pressure to breathe increases, muscles of the diaphragm and chest work harder. Sleep is then temporarily interrupted with a gasp, and breathing starts again.
- Each gasp awakens the sleeper momentarily. Often the sleeper does not remember waking. Someone with obstructive sleep apnea may stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer dozens - even hundreds - of times each night.
- These physical conditions may cause sleep apnea:
- A smaller-than-normal jaw
- Large tongue
- Enlarged tonsils
- Tissues that partially block the entrance to the airway
- Overweight, especially in males
- These lifestyle choices may contribute to airway collapse:
- Alcohol consumption before bedtime
- Sleeping pills
- Tranquilizers taken at bedtime
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