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What are the signs you might have sleep apnea?
Thanks for asking.
According to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic Disease in 2015, 10 of all people are affected by obstructive sleep apnea.
That figure rises for some population groups like men, over 50s and overweight people.
It's actually a mechanical disorder rather than an illness.
When we go to sleep our muscles relax.
That's totally normal.
But when it comes to people affected by apnea, the soft tissue at the back of the throat collapses, blocking the airway.
It causes breathing to stop and start repeatedly as the person sleeps, often without them realizing that anything abnormal is going on.
How long do these breathing pauses last?
And how serious is the condition?
Not a long time as our brain is always on standby.
When it detects a pause in breathing, its survival instinct kicks in and it wakes us up, often gasping and snorting.
Each pause in breathing lasts between 10 and 30 seconds, according to familydoctor.org.
Usually the person falls right back to sleep and remains unaware of the interruption.
Nevertheless, there is an impact on sleep quality, as it's hard to reach the deep, restful phases of sleep that our bodies need.
This can lead to daytime fatigue and irritability.
Not to mention that startling awake from a pause in breathing causes heart rate and blood pressure to rise.
In the long run.
Non-treated sleep apnea can have serious health consequences and decrease life expectancy.
It can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure or arrhythmia, as well as increasing the risk of having a stroke.
How is sleep apnea usually detected?
As we already established, people affected by sleep apnea are often unaware of their condition.
That actually explains why family members sometimes figure out there's something wrong before the person themselves.
It's important to pay attention to certain warning signs of abnormal sleep, like heavy snoring or gasping, for example.
If you live alone, you may notice that you're waking up tired, despite believing you had a regular night's sleep.
Other symptoms, like panic attacks in the middle of the night, may also show that the brain is waking up due to a lack of oxygen.
If you suspect you or someone you know may have sleep apnea, it's best to discuss it with a doctor.
They may recommend tests at a specialized clinic to detect how many pauses the patient records during a night's sleep.
The most reliable kind of sleep study is called a nocturnal polysomnography, which has to be carried out during an overnight stay.
Doctors place electrodes on the patient's face which enable them to get a detailed analysis of sleep and breathing patterns.
Some simplified sleep tests can be done at home.
A system called the apnea hypopnea index or AHI is used to classify how severe sleep apnea is.
Between 5 and 15 pauses per hour is considered mild, 15 to 30 is moderate, while an AHI of over 30 is severe.
Once you've been diagnosed with sleep apnea, what happens next?
Treatment depends on how serious the apnea is.
A severe case may see the patient prescribed with a CPAP machine which pumps air into a mask worn over the mouth or nose while sleeping.
The abbreviation stands for continuous positive airway pressure.
The mask is to be worn for at least five hours per night.
It's a little uncomfortable but is usually effective in stopping the airways from getting too narrow.
Bear in mind it won't cure the condition though.
Another option is to wear an oral appliance, kind of like a gum shield.
There are surgical procedures for sleep apnea, but they are generally a last resort when other treatment has failed.
The most effective kind is known as maxillomandibular advancement, which sees the jaw bones moved forwards to free up the throat.
But it may not be an option for some patients.
There you have it.
Now you know what sleep apnea is.
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