Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times.

There are two types of sleep apnea:

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA): The more common of the two forms of apnea, it is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses during sleep.
• Central sleep apnea: Unlike OSA, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe due to instability in the respiratory control center.

Risk factors for sleep apnea include: male gender, being overweight, being over the age of forty, having a large neck size (17 inches or greater in men and 16 inches or greater in women), having larger tonsils, having a family history of sleep apnea.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in a growing number of health problems including: hypertension, stroke, heart failure, irregular heart beats, and heart attacks.

In addition, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for poor performance in everyday activities, such as at work and school, motor vehicle crashes, as well as academic underachievement in children and adolescents.

Common sleep apnea symptoms include: waking up with a very sore and/or dry throat, loud snoring, occasionally waking up with a choking or gasping sensation, sleepiness during the day, morning headaches, forgetfulness, mood changes, and a decreased interest in sex, recurrent awakenings or insomnia.

If you have symptoms of sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to have a sleep apnea test in a sleep disorder center. This often includes a polysomnogram.

A polysomnogram – or sleep study – is a multiple-component test that electronically transmits and records specific physical activities while you sleep. The recordings are analyzed by a qualified sleep specialist to determine whether or not you have sleep apnea or another type of sleep disorder.

If sleep apnea is determined, you may be asked to return to the lab for further evaluation in order to determine the best treatment option.

On the night of your sleep study, you will be assigned to a private bedroom in a sleep center or hospital. Near the bedroom will be a central monitoring area, where the technicians monitor sleeping patients.

You will be hooked up to equipment that may look uncomfortable. However, most people fall asleep with little difficulty.

In mild cases of sleep apnea, conservative therapy may be all that is needed. Conservative approaches include: losing weight, avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills, changing sleep positions to promote regular breathing, stop smoking, avoid sleeping on your back.

Continuous positive airway pressure – also called CPAP – is a treatment in which a mask is worn over the nose and/or mouth while you sleep. The mask is hooked up to a machine that delivers a continuous flow of air into the nostrils. The positive pressure from air flowing into the nostrils helps keep the airways open so that breathing is not impaired. CPAP is considered by many experts to be the most effective treatment for sleep apnea.