As a Farmington Hills dentist, Dr. James Stewart provides cosmetic, general, family, restorative, and sleep dental services to his patients from across the Livonia, Michigan area. Today, in the midst of National Sleep Awareness Week, Dr. Stewart wants to discuss sleep apnea and why it’s so important to seek out treatment for this serious sleep disorder.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea affects roughly 12 million Americans at any give time, yet many people don’t know that they suffer from this common-yet-debilitating sleep disorder.
Dr. Stewart treats obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when the airways become blocked and normal breathing stops for extended periods of time—ranging from several seconds to several minutes—during sleep. When this occurs, the brain wakes the body to reinstate normal breathing. Additionally, the lack of oxygen flow can lead to a multitude of health problems, including heart attacks and/or cardiac arrest, because the heart is forced to work harder to pump oxygen through the blood to other parts of the body. (more…)