Holding your breath during sleep in itself is not a problem. However, if the breathing pause lasts longer than 10 seconds, oxygen levels in the blood drop and the body senses that something is wrong. This lack of oxygen leads to increased respiratory work and the release of stress hormones, which increase both heart rate and blood pressure.
During a respiratory pause, there will be:
Heart rate to increase
Blood pressure to rise
Oxygen saturation to drop
The adrenal glands to release various stress hormones
The body's effort to get air eventually causes a brief awakening that interrupts the breathing pause. You wake yourself up to start breathing again.
This interruption of sleep, which can last 5, 15, 30 seconds and is repeated 20, 30, 40, 50 or up to 100 times per hour, interferes with normal sleep. This can lead to waking up tired and feeling abnormal fatigue or sleepiness during the day.
We humans have sleep cycles of about 90 minutes, where it takes 20-30 minutes to reach deep sleep. It is the deep sleep that makes you feel alert and alert the next day. It goes without saying that if you wake up on average every two minutes because you can't breathe, then there won't be much deep sleep.
Hypnogram of adult sleep showing typical sleep cycles through the night
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Let's solve the problem
You are not alone, about 600,000 Swedes suffer from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea syndrome is generally twice as common in men - 20% of the population over 30 - compared to women.
If you are affected, there is effective treatment. The first step is a sleep apnea assessment, including nocturnal breathing recording (NAR), to determine if you have sleep apnea and if you need treatment.
We at eHeart can help you with this!
