(Alexa Tucker/ Men’s Health) — When you wake up in the morning, you probably don’t give much thought to what went on when you were conked out. It’s safe to assume that you were, you know, breathing, right?
Not necessarily. In fact, with a common condition called sleep apnea—which can affect up to seven percent of adult men—you might actually stop breathing in your sleep, explains David M. Rapoport, M.D., research director at the Mount Sinai Health System Integrative Sleep Center.
Picture this: Your throat is a collapsible tube, like a garden hose. When you’re awake, the muscles of your throat contract to stiffen your airway and keep it from collapsing when you suck in air. But when you’re asleep, this process doesn’t work as well. Your airway occasionally collapses when you try to take a breath, meaning you’re not getting in any oxygen.
These stops—or apneas—last at least 10 seconds, but are typically 20 to 30 seconds or longer. When your brain gets the signal that you stopped breathing, it resumes its regularly scheduled programming. (…)