Chris Berman on ESPN Primetime opened his remarks on the passing of Reggie White today that he may have died from respiratory complications caused by sleep apnea.
The reason I wanted to write this thread is to share what knowledge I personally have regarding sleep apnea as only recently I have been diagnosed with this disorder. I do not know how long I have been living with this problem. Could be years or a more recent development. It was discovered only by accident, as I was seeing specialists for other issues and certain questions regarding my sleep behavior were asked which led to a full sleep evaluation.
The questions were as follows:
Do you snore? Yes
Do you stop breathing at night? I didn't know, so they asked my wife and she said yes, for up to 25 seconds at a time.
Do you wake up gasping for air or jerk at night? Once again, I didn't know, so they asked my wife and she once again said yes.
At this time, it was explained to me that I might be suffering from sleep apnea. As I understand it, there are certain kinds of apnea, but obstructive apnea is the most common. Any physicians here can comment if I'm off base here. I was tested with an oximeter which attaches to your finger at night and measures your pulse rate and the amount of oxygen you are getting throughout the night. With obstructive sleep apnea, your breathing airway becomes blocked throughout the night, and as your heart doesn't get any oxygen, your pulse continues to increase and your brain and body are starved of oxygen until you jerk or wake up gasping for air in some manner. My measurements showed that I stopped breathing over 600 times during the night and my pulse rate climbed as high as 115 beats per minute most times, while it is normally around 60 to 65 beats per minute and my oxygen level dropped to 60% when you are supposed to be producing 90% or better. This puts a strain on your heart, your brain and your body in general, and can lead to fatal heart attacks, like Reggie White, and strokes.
The disorder is treatable with either a machine called a CPAP which pumps oxygen through a mask, through you nose throughout the night or surgery as a last resort to open your obstruction.
The message I want to get across is that I never even knew I had a disorder and was at high risk as my father and 5 of his brothers and his father all had strokes perhaps caused by apnea, but we never knew it. I don't smoke or drink and my cholesterol is good and no one in my family has had heart attacks. I wanted to share the questions so that you may ask yourself these questions and ask your partner, if possible, regarding the stopping of any breathing and the jerking. I have learned enough about apnea already that indicates to me that many people may have this disorder and not even know it and it can take there life at any age or permanently disable them via a stroke.
I hope this thread can be of some assistance and anyone that has additional knowledge regarding sleep apnea, please feel free to share with your fellow members and viewers, so that nothing catastophic occurs to anyone you know. Any information from any of our resident physicians would be greatly appreciated as well. My best wishes to everyone for good health.
The reason I wanted to write this thread is to share what knowledge I personally have regarding sleep apnea as only recently I have been diagnosed with this disorder. I do not know how long I have been living with this problem. Could be years or a more recent development. It was discovered only by accident, as I was seeing specialists for other issues and certain questions regarding my sleep behavior were asked which led to a full sleep evaluation.
The questions were as follows:
Do you snore? Yes
Do you stop breathing at night? I didn't know, so they asked my wife and she said yes, for up to 25 seconds at a time.
Do you wake up gasping for air or jerk at night? Once again, I didn't know, so they asked my wife and she once again said yes.
At this time, it was explained to me that I might be suffering from sleep apnea. As I understand it, there are certain kinds of apnea, but obstructive apnea is the most common. Any physicians here can comment if I'm off base here. I was tested with an oximeter which attaches to your finger at night and measures your pulse rate and the amount of oxygen you are getting throughout the night. With obstructive sleep apnea, your breathing airway becomes blocked throughout the night, and as your heart doesn't get any oxygen, your pulse continues to increase and your brain and body are starved of oxygen until you jerk or wake up gasping for air in some manner. My measurements showed that I stopped breathing over 600 times during the night and my pulse rate climbed as high as 115 beats per minute most times, while it is normally around 60 to 65 beats per minute and my oxygen level dropped to 60% when you are supposed to be producing 90% or better. This puts a strain on your heart, your brain and your body in general, and can lead to fatal heart attacks, like Reggie White, and strokes.
The disorder is treatable with either a machine called a CPAP which pumps oxygen through a mask, through you nose throughout the night or surgery as a last resort to open your obstruction.
The message I want to get across is that I never even knew I had a disorder and was at high risk as my father and 5 of his brothers and his father all had strokes perhaps caused by apnea, but we never knew it. I don't smoke or drink and my cholesterol is good and no one in my family has had heart attacks. I wanted to share the questions so that you may ask yourself these questions and ask your partner, if possible, regarding the stopping of any breathing and the jerking. I have learned enough about apnea already that indicates to me that many people may have this disorder and not even know it and it can take there life at any age or permanently disable them via a stroke.
I hope this thread can be of some assistance and anyone that has additional knowledge regarding sleep apnea, please feel free to share with your fellow members and viewers, so that nothing catastophic occurs to anyone you know. Any information from any of our resident physicians would be greatly appreciated as well. My best wishes to everyone for good health.
