People who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea are at the greatest risk for sleep apnea death. According to medical experts, the time of day from midnight to six in the morning is the most dangerous time for OSA sufferers to have heart attacks in their sleep and not wake up.

In an astonishing five to 50 times in an hour, this segment of the population stop breathing for at least 10 seconds and block their breathing passageways, including parts of the throat nose and mouth.

At the time that breathing stops, too much carbon dioxide and too little oxygen is flowing in the blood. The blood pressure becomes elevated, the heart rhythm is thrown off and the walls of the heart leap into distress. When all of these conditions escalate in the middle of the night, the outcome is cardiac arrest that ends in sudden death or sleep apnea death.

The statistics surrounding sleep apnea deaths are alarming. About 14.6 people per 1,000 die from sleep apnea each year. According to national research, nearly 40 million Americans who are at risk for obstructive sleep apnea death go undiagnosed. Almost 1,400 traffic deaths happen annually because people who suffer with sleep apnea are driving. About 17 percent of the population has sleep apnea and the greatest risk group is males between the ages of 40 and 70.

There are certain physical or medical conditions that might contribute to an increased risk for sleep apnea. The disease may have some genetic link, and the risk for it increases with age. People with thick necks, overbites and enlarged uvulas or swollen tonsils are also at high risk. Certain lifestyle patterns like obesity, smoking, heavy drinking and high blood pressure place people at a greater risk for sleep apnea death.

Some signs of sleep apnea include sleep deprivation, irritability, depression, sexual dysfunction and problems with memory. A pressing desire to sleep during the day after you believed you have had a good rest through the night is also a telling sign.

You can decrease your chances of sleep apnea death by changing your lifestyle if you are participating in anything that could place you at risk. Smokers should stop smoking. Obese sleepers should try to lose weight. You should also try to start a regular sleep pattern and maintain it in order to fight sleep deprivation. If your body is placed on a regular schedule, it learns to expect sleep at a specific time, and you begin to condition your body to relax during sleep.

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