Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep.These episodes usually last 10 seconds or more and occur repeatedly throughout the night.People with sleep apnea will partially awaken as they struggle to breathe, but in the morning they will not be aware of the disturbances in their sleep Men, overweight people, and people over 40 are at greater risk for sleep apnea. Untreated sleep apnea can cause hypertension, stroke, or heart failure.
Types of sleep apnea
- Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of sleep apnea. It occurs when the soft tissue in the back of your throat relaxes during sleep, causing a blockage of the airway (as well as loud snoring).
- Central sleep apnea is a much less common type of sleep apnea that involves the central nervous system, rather than an airway obstruction. It occurs when the brain fails to signal the muscles that control breathing. People with central sleep apnea seldom snore.
- Complex sleep apnea is a combination of obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.
Risk factors of sleep apnea
- Studies have shown that family history of sleep apnea increases the risk of Sleep Apnea two to four times.
- Being overweight is a risk factor of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), as is having a large neck. However, not all with sleep apnea are obese. At least 20% of patients with sleep disorder breathing are not overweight.
- Sleep apnea is more likely to occur in men than women.
- Abnormalities of the structure of the upper airway contribute to sleep apnea.
- Smoking, sleep aids, sedatives and alcohol use increase the risk of sleep apnea.
Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas overlap, sometimes making the type of sleep apnea more difficult to determine. The most common signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas include:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
- Loud snoring, which is usually more prominent in obstructive sleep apnea
- Observed episodes of breathing cessation during sleep
- Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, which more likely indicates central sleep apnea
- Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
- Morning headache
- Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
Diagnosis
of Sleep apnea
Your doctor will do a physical exam and take a medical history that includes asking you and your family questions about how you sleep and how you function during the day. As part of the exam, your doctor will check your mouth, nose, and throat for extra or large tissues; for example, tonsils, uvula (the tissue that hangs from the middle of the back of the mouth), and soft palate (the roof of your mouth in the back of your throat).
Your doctor may order an overnight sleep study to determine what happens with your breathing while you sleep. A sleep study is a test that is often done in a sleep center or sleep laboratory. You may stay overnight in the sleep center, although sleep studies are sometimes done in the home. The most common sleep recording used to find out if you have sleep apnea is called a polysomnogram (poly-SOM-no-gram), or PSG.
A PSG test records:
- Brain activity
- Eye movement
- Muscle activity
- Breathing and heart rate
- How much air moves in and out of your lungs while you are sleeping
- The percentage of oxygen in your blood
A PSG is painless. You will go to sleep as usual. The staff at the sleep center will monitor your sleep throughout the night. The results of your PSG will be analyzed by a sleep specialist to see if you have sleep apnea, how severe it is, and what treatment may be recommended.
In certain circumstances, a sleep study can be done at home. For this test, you will be instructed how to apply the monitor that you will wear overnight. You will go to sleep as usual, and the technician will come back the next morning to get the monitor and send the results to your doctor. Typically, not as much information is gathered by a home sleep study. Your doctor will help decide which test is best for you.
Once all your tests are completed, the sleep medicine specialist will review the results and work with you and your family to develop a treatment plan. In some cases, you may also need to see another physician for evaluation of:
- Lung problems (treated by a pulmonologist)
- Problems with the brain or nerves (treated by a neurologist)
- Heart or blood pressure problems (treated by a cardiologist)
- Ear, nose, or throat problems (treated by an ENT specialist)
- Mental health, such as anxiety or depression (treated by a psychologist or psychiatrist)
Treatment of Sleep apnea
Treatment often starts with behavioral therapy. Many patients are told to avoid alcohol, sleeping pills, and other sedatives, which can relax throat muscles, contributing to the collapse of the airway at night.
Possibly owing to changes in pulmonary oxygen stores, sleeping on one's side (as opposed to on one's back) has been found to be helpful for central sleep apnea with Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSA-CSR).
Medications like Acetazolamide lower blood pH and encourage respiration. Low doses of oxygen are also used as a treatment for hypoxia but are discouraged due to side effects.
Dentists specializing in sleep disorders can prescribe Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT). The oral appliance is a custom-made mouthpiece that shifts the lower jaw forward, opening up the airway. OAT is usually successful in patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.OAT is a relatively new treatment option for sleep apnea.
Breathing Devices
The air presses on the wall of your airway. The air pressure is adjusted so that it's just enough to stop the airways from becoming narrowed or blocked during sleep.
Treating sleep apnea may help you stop snoring. But not snoring doesn't mean that you no longer have sleep apnea or can stop using CPAP. Sleep apnea will return if CPAP is stopped or not used correctly.
Usually, a technician will come to your home to bring the CPAP equipment. The technician will set up the CPAP machine and adjust it based on your doctor's prescription. After the initial setup, you may need to have the CPAP adjusted on occasion for the best results.
CPAP treatment may cause side effects in some people. These side effects include a dry or stuffy nose, irritated skin on your face, dry mouth, and headaches. If your CPAP isn't adjusted properly, you may get stomach bloating and discomfort while wearing the mask.
If you're having trouble with CPAP side effects, work with your sleep specialist, his or her nursing staff, and the CPAP technician. Together, you can take steps to reduce these side effects. These steps include adjusting the CPAP settings or the size/fit of the mask, or adding moisture to the air as it flows through the mask. A nasal spray may relieve a dry, stuffy, or runny nose.
There are many types of CPAP machines and masks. Tell your doctor if you're not happy with the type you're using. He or she may suggest switching to a different type that may work better for you.
People who have severe sleep apnea symptoms generally feel much better once they begin treatment with CPAP.
Surgery
Surgery is done to widen breathing passages. It usually involves shrinking, stiffening, or removing excess tissue in the mouth and throat or resetting the lower jaw.
Surgery to shrink or stiffen excess tissue in the mouth or throat is done in a doctor's office or a hospital. Shrinking tissue may involve small shots or other treatments to the tissue. A series of such treatments may be needed to shrink the excess tissue. To stiffen excess tissue, the doctor makes a small cut in the tissue and inserts a small piece of stiff plastic.
Surgery to remove excess tissue is done in a hospital. You're given medicine that makes you sleep during the surgery. After surgery, you may have throat pain that lasts for 1 to 2 weeks.
Surgery to remove the tonsils, if they're blocking the airway, may be very helpful for some children. Your child's doctor may suggest waiting some time to see whether these tissues shrink on their own. This is common as small children grow.
Complications
Sleep apnea can cause you to stop breathing during sleep. When you stop breathing, the oxygen levels in your blood go down and carbon dioxide levels go up. This makes your heart and blood vessels work harder and can affect your heart rate and nervous system. This can lead to complications over time, such as:
- Low blood oxygen levels during sleep. These low levels as well as other factors such as fragmented sleep may lead to high blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) and in the rest of the body (hypertension).Nearly 50% of people who have sleep apnea have high blood pressure.
- Heart failure. Changes in the body caused by sleep apnea increase the risk of heart failure.
- Irregular heart rhythms, such as atrial fibrillation.
- Coronary artery disease (CAD).
- A greater-than-normal number of red blood cells, which may cause the blood to thicken.
- Death caused by blood vessel disease that affects the brain or heart (strokeor heart attack).
- Failure to resume breathing (respiratory failure) and sudden death, especially in the early morning (very rare).
Sleep apnea can cause some of these conditions to progress more quickly and be more difficult to treat. Treating sleep apnea may help make some of these conditions less severe.
People with sleep apnea also may be more likely to get in a car crash due to sleepiness while driving.
Please Note-
With treatment, many of the chronic conditions associated with sleep apnea can be resolved. It has been shown to improve daytime sleepiness, concentration and memory, heart disease and heart failure, heartburn and reflux, diabetes control, erectile dysfunction, depression, and reduce the risk of car accidents. In addition, studies show that using CPAP is as effective as taking any one blood pressure medication to treat high blood pressure. If left untreated, sleep apnea can increase the risk of sudden death.
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