Sleep Apnea
What is sleep apnea?
Who is at risk for sleep apnea?
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
How is sleep apnea diagnosed?
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea (also called obstructive sleep apnea) is a serious problem that causes people to briefly stop breathing while they sleep.
During normal sleep, throat muscles relax. If there is too little room inside the throat or too much tissue pressing on the outside of the throat, the airway can become blocked. This blockage stops the movement of air, and the amount of oxygen in the blood drops. The drop in oxygen causes the brain to send a signal to wake the person up. The airway opens and the person starts breathing again.
This cycle may repeat as often as 50 or more times an hour. Generally a person will not remember waking up during the night. But the many arousals will cause drowsiness the next day.
Who is at risk for sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea affects between 2 to 10 percent of people. It is more common in men than in women. It is also more common in people who are overweight because excess body mass causes a narrowing of the airway. Some people also inherit a tendency to have sleep apnea.
Other possible causes of sleep apnea include:
- Tobacco smoking
- Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
- Lung disease
- An abnormal sleep pattern because of an irregular work schedule or rotating shift work.
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
The following symptoms of sleep apnea may occur:
- Loud snoring interrupted with pauses in breathing, followed by loud gasps
- Not feeling rested in the morning
- Morning headaches
- Tiredness or sleepiness during the day
- Trouble concentrating
- Anxiety, irritability or depression
- A strong desire to take afternoon naps
- Sleepiness while driving.
- Many people who snore do not have sleep apnea, but nearly everyone who has sleep apnea snores. If snoring is inhibiting restful sleep, medical attention should be sought.
How is sleep apnea diagnosed?
To diagnose sleep apnea, a health care provider may:
- Assess you and your family's health history
- Perform a physical exam, focusing on the throat and nasal passages
- Order blood tests, including a check of the function of the thyroid gland
- Do a sleep study at a sleep disorders clinic or sleep lab. Sleep studies are in-depth, inpatient tests that measure a person's heart rate, brain waves, chest movement and blood oxygen levels while sleeping. The study will help determine if the movement of air slows during sleep or if air movement stops completely during sleep. It will also show how often this happens during sleep.
Find out how to treat sleep apnea and learn more about our sleep apnea specialists.
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