Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that involves a complete or partial blockage of the airway during sleep. People with sleep apnea are known to stop breathing during sleep from time to time or to have their sleep otherwise disrupted by lack of oxygen.1 And their breathing issues may be accompanied by snoring. It’s common—some 12 million Americans have sleep apnea.
What’s the Connection?
Not surprisingly, sleep apnea leads to fatigue, and sometimes it’s associated with headache. But the reason for the association with headache is tricky.
Research from the American Headache Society suggests that disruption of sleep triggers a variety of headache disorders (migraine, cluster, chronic daily headache, etc.).2 Research published in the journal Cephalalgia suggests that sleep apnea may directly cause morning headache by lowering levels of oxygen in the brain while increasing carbon dioxide. Morning headache has been reported in anywhere from 15 percent to 60 percent of patients with obstructive sleep apnea,1 and headache sufferers have a two-fold to eight-fold greater risk of having sleep apnea than the rest of the population.2 With evidence of a link, researchers continue to debate how they're connected.
How Is It Treated?
If sleep apnea is suspected, it is common for physicians to order a sleep history and sleep study. Weight loss may be prescribed. Or the disorder could be treated with upper airway surgery, a mouth guard or other mouth device, or use of a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) unit, an assistive breathing device worn over the mouth and nose. 2
References:
1. Cephalalgia.
