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High altitude living heightens risks of developing apnea

Written by: David Castillo on April 14th, 2011

High altitude living heightens risks of developing apnea | read this item

After moving from Nebraska to Flagstaff back in 1996, Jeri Benham has found her self constantly getting tired and losing breath while climbing staircases. She wasn’t able to acclimatize properly to living at 7,000 feet above sea level, which explains her constant exhaustion and reason for having been recommended for lab testing.

Benham was found to having suffered periods of breathing cessation, around 45 times each hour, each period lasting anywhere from 30 to 40 seconds. All the while, her husband wasn’t aware of her sleeping problem. She says that her body feels like it was lacking oxygen each and every night, and that she has trouble sleeping well.

Benham’s husband, Gary, explains that “we didn’t realize that she wasn’t sleeping and wasn’t getting oxygen when she was sleeping.” Meanwhile, studies from Switzerland, Colorado may hold the key to her problems. They say that people residing in high altitude places are at risk of sleeping disorders especially due to the scarcity of oxygen in the lower atmospheric pressure conditions.

Source: azdailysun