Sleep Apnea: Sleeping in fits and starts

Sleep Apnea is a serious medical condition. Unfortunately, many don’t even realize that they have a sleep condition, let alone Sleep Apnea. When left untreated, this can lead to long-term and even life-threatening symptoms.

When you have this condition, your breath can become very shallow or you may even stop breathing briefly while you sleep. This can happen many times a night in some individuals. If an individual stops breathing while sleeping, they are partly awoken as their brain is forced from sleep in order to command the body to breath. When this occurs, sleep quality is compromised and other medical issues present.

There are three kinds of Sleep Apnea: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) and Mixed Sleep Apnea (MSA). Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of Sleep Apnea and is believed to affect approximately 4% of men and 2% of women. However, it is believed that only about 10% of people with OSA seek treatment leaving the majority of OSA sufferers undiagnosed.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs as repetitive episodes of complete or partial upper airway blockage during sleep. During sleep, an individual’s throat muscles relax permitting the tongue and softer issues of the throat to fall back and completely or partially obstruct airflow through the airways. During an apnoeic event, air is restricted from moving past the obstruction thus reducing oxygen in the blood. This reduction in oxygen signals the brain to partially awake and command the body to breathe. As the diaphragm and chest muscles require working harder to force air past the obstruction, breathing usually resumes with a loud gasp, snort, or body jerk. Once a breath is taken the brain returns to sleep, and the process begins once again. This process can occur several times a night or hundreds of times a night depending on the severity of the condition.

Central Sleep Apnea is less prevalent than Obstructive Sleep Apnea and occurs when the brain intermittently fails to command the muscles responsible for regulating breathing.

Mixed Sleep Apnea as the name suggest is a combination of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Central Sleep Apnea.

What are the Symptoms of Sleep Apnea?

The symptoms of Sleep Apnea include:

• Snoring.

• Excessive day time sleepiness.

• Irritability and frequent mood changes.

• Headaches.

• Restless sleep.

• Poor concentration.

What are the Causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

There are many potential causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, they include:

• Weight.

• Enlarged tonsils, adenoids or tongue.

• Sinus issues.

What are the Causes of Central Sleep Apnea?

Central Sleep Apnea is generally caused by pre-existing medical conditions which cause an in-balance within the brain's respiratory control centers during sleep, such as cardiac failure or neurologic diseases.

What are the Risks of Sleep Apnea?

Suffering from Sleep Apnea makes you tired and groggy, but did you know that Sleep Apnea carries also severe risk for the following?

• High Blood Pressure

• Type 2 Diabetes

• Heart Disease

• Acid Reflux

• Weight Gain

• Depression

What are the Treatments for Sleep Apnea?

If you are experiencing sleep issues, we recommend that you consult our Pneumologist. He may order a sleep study, called polysomnography to make a diagnosis made. The examination will confirm whether or not you do suffer from Sleep Apnea and what type. Other tests may be prescribed, in order to search other underlying medical conditions, such as cardiac failure, chronic pulmonary disease, neurological diseases, and hormonal diseases.

The treatment options relating to Sleep Apnea are varied and will be specifically targeted to your personal circumstances. Your doctor may work in collaboration with other members of the sleep team, including dentists, ENT doctors, cardiologists, nurses and technologists. Your plan may include any combination of these treatments:

• CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy.

• Mandible orthesis.

• Surgery.

• Weight management.

• Lifestyle changes.

Việt Nam News

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