Doctor issues warning to anyone who gets dry mouth or headaches in morning

Doctor issues warning to anyone who gets dry mouth or headaches in morning Health expert warns common sleeping habits could signal 'incredibly undiagnosed condition' According to NHS Inform, around a third of Brits struggle to get enough sleep each night. While the reasons for poor sleep can include a range of factors, a sleep expert has warned that a 'massively underdiagnosed' condition could be a cause of poor sleep for many, with a serious effect on their overall health. "Despite how well known it is, sleep apnoea is an incredibly undiagnosed condition," says Dr Sandip Banerjee, Respiratory Consultant and Sleep Specialist at Private Sleep Clinic. "It’s estimated that 8-10 million people live with the condition in the UK, with around 80 per cent of cases remaining undiagnosed." He warns: "That’s a huge number of people out there who don’t even realise they have a condition that is regularly affecting almost every aspect of their day-to-day lives." Chronic sleep deprivation linked to sleep apnoea can have an impact on your metabolism and increase your likelihood of developing insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease. What is sleep apnoea? Sleep apnoea is a blanket term for sleep disorders that cause your breathing to stop and start repeatedly throughout the night. The most common type of sleep apnoea is obstructive sleep apnoea, or OSA. Sleep apnoea is a serious medical condition because it repeatedly interrupts your breathing during sleep, causing your blood oxygen levels to drop and forcing your brain to wake you up just enough to breathe. These frequent, sudden drops in oxygen trigger a flood of stress hormones that strain your cardiovascular system. Over time, this constant nighttime stress significantly raises your risk of developing high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms, heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke. "OSA occurs when your throat and soft tissues relax during sleep, causing a blockage in your airways," Dr Banerjee explains. "This blockage then causes constant disruption to your sleep throughout the night as your body struggles to get enough oxygen, with intermittent hypoxia being one of the hallmark features of the condition." Typically, the most commonly known and easiest to identify symptom of sleep apnoea is loud snoring, or other similar sounds during sleep. But, there are other symptoms of the condition that you may not realise are connected. Dr Banerjee explains: "The symptoms of sleep apnoea are most apparent during the day itself. When you wake up, you’ll often have a very dry mouth and throat, along with occasional morning headaches due to the hypoxia. As you continue through the day, you’ll usually feel more tired than you should, along with experiencing heightened levels of fatigue and weakness." What to do if you suspect you may have sleep apnoea? If you think you may potentially be suffering from sleep apnoea, the best thing to do is book an appointment with your GP. Because of the sheer amount of potential other issues that can stem from OSA, it’s best to get it diagnosed early. Before your appointment, Dr Banerjee recommends recording audio or video of your sleep to provide evidence and help your GP make a more informed decision. If your doctor suspects that you may be suffering from sleep apnoea, they may refer you to a specialist clinic for further testing, usually involving the use of devices overnight to monitor your sleep. He says that most of the time this can be done at home. Depending on the results of your test and the severity of your sleep apnoea, your treatment will differ. "For some, sleep apnoea can be treated by certain lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol, and losing weight, all of which can improve the quality of your sleep," Dr Banerjee says. "For more serious sufferers, you may be given a continuous positive airway pressure machine, also known as a CPAP machine. These machines work by gently pumping air into a mask worn over your nose and mouth whilst you sleep, helping to improve your breathing and alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnoea." Because of just how underdiagnosed he says sleep apnoea is, and because it can cause so many potential issues, the doctor says it's always best to speak to a professional about it if you suspect you may suffer from it. Dr Banerjee adds: "While an increased likelihood of suffering from poor mental health is one of the key aspects of obstructive sleep apnoea, it's also linked to some quite severe physical conditions as well. "OSA is associated with a greater risk of developing cardiovascular issues such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and eventually heart failure, so it really is in your best interest to get it checked out." He said: "Identifying and treating the condition can soon lead to much better sleep quality, and therefore a much better overall quality of life, so the best advice is to avoid putting off getting it checked out."