What Is The Difference Between Sleep Apnea And Narcolepsy?
Narcolepsy and sleep apnea both are sleep disorders that have a serious impact on your day-to-day life. Both of these issues cause disturbances in your sleeping pattern. The fact that both of these have to do with sleep is their similarity, however there are many differences between the two.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea has to do with your breathing pattern while sleeping. It refers to short periods while you’re sleeping and you stop breathing. When you stop breathing your oxygen level drops in your blood and this may cause you to wake up. The constant waking will cause someone with sleep apnea to be deprived of the adequate sleep they require. Sleep apnea usually happens to a person who is 40 years old or older. Sleep apnea is caused by either your brain function while you sleep or your air passage is obstructed.
Narcolepsy
If you suffer from narcolepsy, you may have several episodes of falling asleep during the day. This falling daytime asleep is difficult to control for a person with narcolepsy. A person with narcolepsy usually also struggles with interrupted nighttime sleeping, sleep paralysis and hallucinations. Narcolepsy usually starts in adolescence. A diagnosis of a person with narcolepsy is very rare for individuals in their 30s or 40s. It is caused by your nerve cells not functioning correctly.
Due to the fact that the causes and symptoms of each of these sleep disorders are very different, they must be treated very different as well. If you are one of the millions of people in the United States that suffers from sleep apnea call Bob Perkins, DDS for effective options to treat it. Contact us today for accurate diagnosis and treatment options for your sleep apnea today.