What is Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality. Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

• Loud snoring
• Restless sleep
• morning headaches
• personality changes
• impaired concentration
• mood disturbances
• polyuria
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• choking/gasping during sleep
• daytime fatigue
• memory impairment
• poor judgment
• recent weight gain
• impotence

Snoring is a sign of partial upper-airway obstruction. During snoring the inability to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide upsets the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. The brain senses the low level of oxygen and increased levels of carbon dioxide and sends a signal to resume breathing and cause an arousal. The frequent arousals inhibit the normal sleep cycle and result in fragmented sleep. This makes the patient feel very sleepy during the day and complain of a very unrefreshing sleep at night.

Apnea Risk Factors and Health Consequences

Risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious sleep disorder can have significant consequences. Further risk factors include Obesity, Hypertension, Cardiac arrhythmia, Ischemic heart disease, Hypothyroidism. In children, tonsillar hypertrophy is the commonest cause for sleep apnea.

Remember that sleep apnea occurs in thin people as well; the airway can close during sleep for a number of reasons, not just excess weight.

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotence, and headaches. Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.

Sleep Apnea Snoring and Obstructed Breathing

For many people with obstructive sleep apnea, snoring is a major symptom. Sleep apnea snoring often occurs if the airways are partially blocked. While snoring is a very common sleep apnea symptom, it is possible to have sleep apnea without snoring. Nor is snoring one of the definitive signs of sleep apnea: many people snore without experiencing sleep disorders.

The effects of sleep apnea range well beyond snoring.

Obstructed breathing is very noticeable to a bed partner: the sudden cessation of a partner's breathing is quite alarming. Once aroused from deep sleep, people with sleep apnea may snore, gasp, or choke. Often these symptoms wake either the sleeper or the bed partner.

The problem of excessive daytime sleepiness (especially while driving, working or talking) develops slowly over years and often gets noticed by friends and colleagues of the patient.

Facts about Sleep Apnea: