Sleep Apnea and Gout have a weird marriage in our Health and Lifestyle
Australia, Commonwealth of (Press Release) September 25, 2007 --
About 5 years ago my wife noticed I stopped regularly breathing during the night whilst asleep.
I was overweight at the time and was getting tired during the day all the time.
After a severe Gout attack I went to my local Doctor and mentioned about my breathing problem, and that's when he mentioned I might have sleep apnea and this was related to Gout and heart disease and many other medical complications. Great I thought I have Gout and Sleep Apnea, what else can go wrong?
The Doctor had strongly suggested that being overweight or Obese as I was was making the air pipe smaller, hence less oxygen was getting into the bloodstream which can affect organs and the brain, as an oxygen starved brain certainly isn't a nice thing to get.
An oxygen starved bloodstream causes the breakdown of cells which forms Uric acid, the enemy of Gout.
Coupled in this low oxygen environment is carbon dioxide which causes the blood to increase in its acidity and also increases monosodium urate.
Monosodium Urate is a group of calcium phosphates that can build up in connective tissues such as the ears and elbows and create Tophi...and inflammation or just attack the synovial sacks and kick off a Gout attack.
Another common trait with Gout is the circumference of the neck.
I have a large neck, which in a car accident is good as it is harder to break my neck or good in certain areas of sport, but for Gout and sleep apnea it is a bad thing to have.
A thick neck generally equals a smaller air passage, the more overweight you are the smaller the circumference is of the airway.
Every extra pound or kilo of weight could be an extra millimeter less of air passage = less oxygen = more gout = more chance of other organ sickness etc.
Also having a thick tongue, or a receding chin, thick tonsils, nasal congestion, Hypothyroidism, post-polio syndrome, and Down syndrome can affect you, as well as being a smoker, drinking before bedtime and the taking of sedatives can also bring it on.
Some schools of thought seem to think that Gout is an early warning sign of Sleep Apnea, this may well be true.
Signs of Sleep Apnea:
• Sleepy during the day
• falling to sleep driving
• angry and tired for no reason or personality changes that are unexplained
• regular sudden awakenings
• waking up tired in the mornings
• headaches
• sore throat in the morning
• Dry mouth
• lethargy
• rapid weight gain
• Memory loss or very vague
• short attention span
• slower healing process
• slower reaction time
Always seek medical advice for your Gout and Sleep Apnea.
I was overweight at the time and was getting tired during the day all the time.
After a severe Gout attack I went to my local Doctor and mentioned about my breathing problem, and that's when he mentioned I might have sleep apnea and this was related to Gout and heart disease and many other medical complications. Great I thought I have Gout and Sleep Apnea, what else can go wrong?
The Doctor had strongly suggested that being overweight or Obese as I was was making the air pipe smaller, hence less oxygen was getting into the bloodstream which can affect organs and the brain, as an oxygen starved brain certainly isn't a nice thing to get.
An oxygen starved bloodstream causes the breakdown of cells which forms Uric acid, the enemy of Gout.
Coupled in this low oxygen environment is carbon dioxide which causes the blood to increase in its acidity and also increases monosodium urate.
Monosodium Urate is a group of calcium phosphates that can build up in connective tissues such as the ears and elbows and create Tophi...and inflammation or just attack the synovial sacks and kick off a Gout attack.
Another common trait with Gout is the circumference of the neck.
I have a large neck, which in a car accident is good as it is harder to break my neck or good in certain areas of sport, but for Gout and sleep apnea it is a bad thing to have.
A thick neck generally equals a smaller air passage, the more overweight you are the smaller the circumference is of the airway.
Every extra pound or kilo of weight could be an extra millimeter less of air passage = less oxygen = more gout = more chance of other organ sickness etc.
Also having a thick tongue, or a receding chin, thick tonsils, nasal congestion, Hypothyroidism, post-polio syndrome, and Down syndrome can affect you, as well as being a smoker, drinking before bedtime and the taking of sedatives can also bring it on.
Some schools of thought seem to think that Gout is an early warning sign of Sleep Apnea, this may well be true.
Signs of Sleep Apnea:
• Sleepy during the day
• falling to sleep driving
• angry and tired for no reason or personality changes that are unexplained
• regular sudden awakenings
• waking up tired in the mornings
• headaches
• sore throat in the morning
• Dry mouth
• lethargy
• rapid weight gain
• Memory loss or very vague
• short attention span
• slower healing process
• slower reaction time
Always seek medical advice for your Gout and Sleep Apnea.
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