Better Health & Beyond — Sleep Apnea

Many people living with sleep apnea may not realize they their breathing is being interrupted while they sleep.  Often family members might notice the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea first.  If left untreated, sleep apnea can increase the risk of developing other life threatening heath conditions such as hypertension, stroke, and heart disease.

Heart failure may cause you to feel weak and fatigued during the day. But did you know that daytime tiredness might be in part the result of sleep problems exacerbated by or occurring in conjunction with heart failure? Known culprits include sleep apnea, orthopnea, and periodic limb movement disorder. “If you wake up feeling not refreshed or you have daytime sleepiness or if you need to curtail your daytime activity because of lack of energy, these could be signs that there’s something going on during sleep,” says Rami Khayat, MD, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine expert at The Ohio State University Wexler...