About Sleep Apnea
What is Sleep Apnea?
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Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. This is a potentially serious disorder as it causes breathing to stop and start during sleep.
The muscles in your throat relax sporadically and blocks/narrows your airway during sleep. This narrowing obstructs breathing, resulting in lower blood oxygen levels.
Your brain senses this and briefly rouses you from sleep so that you can reopen your airway.
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Loud snoring
Observed episodes of breathing cessation during sleep
Abrupt awakenings accompanied by gasping or choking
Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
Morning headache
Difficulty concentrating during the day
Experiencing mood changes, such as depression or irritability
High blood pressure
Nighttime sweating
Decreased libido
You should consult a medical professional if you or your partner experience the following signs or symptoms:
Snoring loud enough to disturb your sleep or that of others
Waking up gasping or choking
Intermittent pauses in your breathing during sleep
Excessive daytime drowsiness, which may cause you to fall asleep while you're working, watching television or even driving a vehicle
Obstructive sleep apnea can occur when the muscles at the back of the throat relaxes during sleep, thus blocking the passage for airflow into the lungs.
When the muscles relax, your airway narrows as you breathe in and the breathing may stop intermittently for 10 to 20 seconds. This will lower the levels of oxygen in your blood and increase carbon dioxide.
As this occurs, your brain senses a disruption in breathing and briefly rouses you from sleep so you can reopen your airway. Sometimes these awakenings are extremely brief, and you may not notice it, other times you may experience sudden gasping or choking that disturbs your sleep.
Usually, awakening and taking one or two deep breaths can correct the problem. However, this pattern repeats itself from 5-30 times per hour.
Eventually this leads to a low quality of sleep, thus causing the symptoms of fatigue, tiredness and daytime sleepiness.
Majority of people with obstructive sleep apnea may not be aware their sleep is being interrupted, and many people will feel like they had slept well throughout the night.
Excess weight – many people with obstructive sleep apnea are overweight and have a higher than normal amount of fat tissue in their upper airway causing obstruction. However, not everyone with obstructive sleep apnea is overweight and this disorder can affect anyone.
Narrowed airway – genetically you may have a narrower airway, and when your tonsils or adenoids at the back of your throat enlarge it may lead to a blockage of air.
High blood pressure (hypertension) – People with hypertension are more likely to also have obstructive sleep apnea.
Chronic nasal congestion – People with chronic nasal congestion at night are more likely to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, and this could be due to the narrowing of the airway.
Smoking – People who smoke are more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea.
Diabetes – Obstructive sleep apnea may be more common in people with diabetes.
Gender – men are twice as likely as women to have obstructive sleep apnea.
Family – If you have family members with obstructive sleep apnea, you may be at increased risk.
Asthma – Recent research has found an association between asthma and the risk of obstructive sleep apnea.
Daytime fatigue and sleepiness – Due to multiple and repeated awakenings throughout the night, it becomes difficult to have a good quality of sleep. This can lead to severe daytime drowsiness, fatigue and irritability. People find it becomes difficult to concentrate and many times fall asleep during work, at home or even driving, which is extremely dangerous.
Cardiovascular problems – As oxygen levels decrease in the blood during sleep, this will result in increased blood pressure and strain on your heart. People can develop high blood pressure (hypertension) and have an increased risk of heart disease, such as blocked coronary arteries, heart attacks, arrhythmias, heart failure and strokes. Untreated obstructive sleep apnea can lead to sudden death from a cardiac event.
Complications with medications and surgery – Medications such as sedatives, narcotics and general anesthetics can relax your upper airway and worsen obstructive sleep apnea. Breathing problems can occur after major surgery, and it is important to tell your doctor if you have obstructive sleep apnea prior to your surgery.
Eye problems – There is a correlation between obstructive sleep apnea and glaucoma, which can be treated.
Relationships – Loud snoring can keep your partner awake and night and lead to disturbances in your relationships. There is a significant correlation between obstructive sleep apnea and libido; as it can lead to erectile dysfunction.
1 in 5 adults has mild OSA
1 in 15 has moderate to severe OSA
9% of middle-aged women and 25% of middle-aged men suffer from OSA
Prevalence similar to asthma (20 million) and diabetes (23.6 million) of the population
75% of severe sleep apnea cases remain undiagnosed
OSA can occur in ANY age group, but prevalence increases between middle and older age.
About 24% of men and 9% of women have the breahting symptoms of OSA with or without daytime sleepiness.
About 80% to 90% of adults with OSA remaind undiagnosed.
