Epilepsy Talk

Epilepsy and sleep apnea — a dangerous duo

Almost a third of people with epilepsy may suffer with undiagnosed sleep apnea, a sleep disorder which is dangerous because of  the possible serious consequences.

Basically (as you probably already know), sleep apnea is characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing during sleep.

Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from at least ten seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour, causing partial airway obstruction.

As sleep deepens, your airway becomes blocked.