Although sleepiness and fatigue are not typical symptoms of high blood pressure, they are even more so for sleep apnea, which lurks in the background. Dr. You can learn from teacher Judit Kapocsi, the hypertension specialist at the Thrombosis Center, how sleep apnea is related to hypertension and how to help with the problem.
Sleep apnea on the background of constant fatigue
It happens to everyone sometimes that they wake up tired even after 7-8 hours of sleep, and this affects their whole day. Most of the time, there are psychological reasons behind this, but if this condition persists for a long time, the problem could easily be caused by the so-called sleep apnea. This is a type of sleep disorder, during which the patient experiences interruptions in breathing, as the pharyngeal muscles relax and the tongue slides back. The person himself is often not even alarmed by the difficulty of his breathing, but the person lying next to him will be attentive to the snoring or sudden snoring that occurs as a result of the problem. This can be repeated several times during the night, so the patient’s sleep will not be satisfactory, resulting in severe fatigue during the day. explains dr. Teacher Judit Kapocsi, specialist in high blood pressure at the Thrombosis Center.
Typical symptoms of sleep apnea
- snoring
- morning dry mouth
- shortness of breath at night
- daytime fatigue
- concentration disorder
It can also lead to high blood pressure
Inadequate sleep affects the functioning of the entire body, so sleep apnea can lead to countless problems. One of the most common of these is high blood pressure, because normally the blood pressure can drop by 10-20 percent during sleep, but if breathing stops, the activity of the sympathetic system increases and a larger amount of adrenaline enters the bloodstream, which raises the blood pressure. What’s more, according to studies, this “surge” remains even in the waking state, so the blood pressure cannot normalize.
Persistent fatigue can be a warning sign
Although many people do not associate fatigue with illness, if it makes your days miserable for a long time, it is worth looking into the root of the problem! The first thing you can do is measure your blood pressure at home, and if it’s high, sleep apnea may be playing a role in your inability to relax. The diagnosis can now be easily established in well-equipped sleep laboratories. If the disease is confirmed, it is necessary to treat both the sleep disorder and hypertension (with medication and lifestyle changes), since without adequate therapy the risk of heart attack and stroke increases significantly.
Source: Thrombosis Center
Source: www.patikamagazin.hu
