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| Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) | Snoring | Treatment Options | Oral Appliance Therapy |
 Some Information on this website courtesy of HTL (Health Technology Limited) |
Hypertension (high blood pressure)A Silent KillerThose who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (a silent killer) experience repeated awakenings during the course of sleep.
During sleep, the airway relaxes, losing its patency (muscle tone) and narrows or closes completely.Oxygen is depleted. After 10-20 seconds (a minute is not unusual, could you imagine holding your breath for one minute?) the body forces the person to awaken so that it can open the airway again. Often, these interruptions are so short that they go unnoticed but can occur quite frequently hundreds of times per night, without you ever knowing. The drop in oxygen levels caused by not breathing and the increase in heart rate and blood pressure due to frequent awakenings puts stress on the heart. The result? A rise in blood pressure during the night and a resulting rise in blood pressure during the day. Permanently. Are you currently taking hypertension medication? Lowering your blood pressure may be difficult if your sleep apnea remains untreated. Correcting your sleep apnea problem will likely lessen the severity of your hypertension (high blood pressure).
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