Sleep apnea? A simple exercise may help

Sleep apnea is more than an inconvenience that makes us feel tired the next day – it can make us dangerously sleepy, affecting judgment and causing accidents because of our fatigue.

Before trying treatments that could be expensive (like a machine called a CPAP that helps you breathe at night), researchers have found that a simple tongue exercise may help reduce the incidence of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute:

“Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.

Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep 3 or more nights each week. You often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow.”

They provide an good video to show you an animation of what happens when people experience sleep apnea.

The researchers studied 31 patients who were recently diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, with the results published in the most recent issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine . They found that patients who performed certain tongue and pharyngeal exercises “showed significant improvements in lowest oxygen saturation levels in blood, subjective sleepiness, snoring symptoms and quality of sleep scores.”

The authors caution that the research is young yet and this was only a small group. However, it is promising and the researchers are excited that this may be one solution to a problem that plagues many people.

Do you have sleep apnea or have a partner who does? How does it affect your life?

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