When your partner suggests a night out and all you can do is groan and think about a cosy bed it might be time to take your life back.
If you are always feeling slightly tired and as if you are not getting enough sleep, it might not be the stress of daily living, but a treatable condition that has gone unnoticed by your health care practitioner.
A recently identified condition called Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) has been shown to affect your quality of sleep and could be the reason why you can never summon enough energy to enjoy life as much as you should!
What are the symptoms of UARS?
It has been reported that about 31% of women under the age of forty could be suffering from UARS. The most common symptoms are:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Fatigue or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Difficulty concentrating
- Morning headaches
- Feeling unrefreshed on waking in the morning
- Short term memory loss
- Body aches and pains
What causes UARS?
Some people have a smaller than normal space behind their tongue, a narrow nasal passage or a small neck. These individuals are usually not obese and younger than 38 years of age.
Although similar to obstructive sleep apnea, UARS patients do not have apnea and invariably report that they cannot sleep on their backs and are ‘light sleepers’.
How evolution has caused this problem
Throughout the ages our tongues have remained the same size, but our ability to talk has taken up vital airway space due to our voice box and flattened faces (compared to primates).
What happens is that during REM sleep you may be lying on your back and your muscles relax, resulting in a large tongue that falls back against this narrow airway, limiting airflow. This will cause frequent awakening during sleep.
In essence: your muscles relax > the tongue obstructs the airway > your subconscious says that you need more air > you wake up > the muscles that control the tongue tense up > air is available and you fall asleep again. This happens over and over again, interrupting that vital restorative sleep your body needs. Some people are aware of waking up, but the majority of these arousals occur subconsciously.
What does this do to your long-term health?
Just imagine how you would feel if somebody woke you up every few minutes of every night for a few months! Your body would go into an almost chronic state of low-grade stress and you will feel tired, groggy, unmotivated, have no focus or concentration and be very, very grumpy!
What other health problems could UARS cause?
Apart from the tiredness, it will have an effect on or cause:
- Gastro intestinal problems (diarrhoea or constipation, bloating, acid reflux)
- Throat and voice box reflux, resulting in chronic throat clearing, hoarseness, postnasal drip, coughing and difficulty swallowing
- Low blood pressure with cold hands and feet
- Migraine and tension headaches
- Depression, anxiety or attention deficit problems
- Insulin resistance/diabetes
- Difficulty when trying to lose weight
Most importantly, sleep deprivation disorders such as:
- Difficulty in falling asleep and then staying asleep and waking up not feeling refreshed
- Restless legs syndrome
- Having vivid, wild and crazy dreams or no dreams at all because you wake up when you enter the dream stage.
How would UARS be diagnosed?
UARS is a treatable condition. At Health Renewal, a doctor who understands this problem will take a full history, do a physical examination and order required tests. Once a diagnosis has been made, appropriate treatment can be started.
How does one treat UARS?
- Nasal breathing optimisation: nasal congestion or obstruction would be treated and, a common problem, such as allergies can be controlled with proper medication and avoidance measures.
- Dental appliances: useful in opening up the airway.
- Surgical options are always the last resort and only considered when all other more conservative options have been exhausted.
Article written by Skin, Body, Health Renewal.
If you think you may be have Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, then click here to complete this Health Renewal UARS Questionnaire.
For more information about Health Renewal, visit their website www.healthrenewal.co.za
More about Skin, Body and Health Renewal:
Health Renewal forms part of the Skin and Body Renewal brand of aesthetic clinics around the country. Skin Renewal was founded by Dr. Maureen Allem, who started the specialist aesthetic centre after several years of providing injectable aesthetic treatments such as wrinkle reduction and dermal fillers to her patients. The need for a fully-fledged aesthetic centre came about as a result of the advances in aesthetic technologies, which provided alternatives to the more traditional surgical procedures that had been practised for the preceding decades. The development of the new laser, light, radio frequency and ultrasound technologies specifically provided a cost effective means to improve the quality of the skin and also treat a wide range of skin and body conditions. During mid 2009 the new Body Renewal brand was launched in response to a high level of demand for body related services and treatments and this was designed to operate as an independent offering or to be integrated into existing Skin Renewal branches. Skin Renewal continues to research and implement the newest, best and most dependable new technologies and continues to expand the brand across South Africa through partnership with likeminded aesthetic physicians, staff, distributors, suppliers and service providers. In addition to the expansion of the Skin & Body Renewal brands, the Health Renewal brand was launched in September 2013, which focuses on integrative medical health and incorporates bio identical hormone replacement, genetic testing and the use of a wide range of nutraceutical products and supplements.