Obstructive Sleep Apnea

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic condition and causes a person’s breathing to be disrupted during sleep. It occurs when the throat muscles relax during sleep, which ends up blocking your airway. It makes the breathing shallow several times while the patient is asleep, which can leave the body and the brain deprived of oxygen. On the surface, obstructive sleep apnea is usually associated with loud snoring and lethargy due to unrefreshed sleep.

However, there are potentially other serious consequences of long term sleep apnea in the form of heart disease, high blood pressure, and depression. It is a serious condition and can cause a person to stop breathing when left untreated. There are several forms of sleep apnea:

Obstructive Sleep Apnea
This is a common form of sleep apnea that occurs when the muscles in the back of your throat relax, blocking the airways. The brain forces you awake so that your airways can reopen. This condition prevents the ability to have restful sleep. 

Central Sleep Apnea
This uncommon form of sleep apnea happens when the brain fails to transmit signals to breathing muscles. This causes a person to awaken with shortness of breath or have a difficult time getting to sleep or staying asleep.

What are the symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea include:

• Breathing stoppage during sleep
• Dry mouth
• Gasping for air during sleep
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Morning headache
• Snoring

What are the causes and risk factors of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

OSA happens when the muscles at the back of the throat supporting the soft palate relax too much to allow for normal breathing. When this happens, your airway narrows which lowers the amount of oxygen in the blood. Your brain, sensing this obstructed breathing, will rouse you from your sleep so you can reopen your airway. 

You may awaken with shortness of breath that quickly corrects itself or you may make a snorting or choking sound. This may happen several times throughout the night and results in impaired sleep throughout the night. 

Some factors that may increase your risk of developing this condition include:

• Excess weight: Most cases of OSA occur in people who are overweight due to fatty deposits around the airway obstructing breathing. 
• Older age: Your risk of OSA increases as you grow older.
• Narrowed airway: A naturally narrowed airway may be a genetic trait inherited from your parents. Or your tonsils or adenoids may become swollen due to an infection.
• High blood pressure: OSA is commonly observed in people with hypertension.
• Chronic nasal congestion: OSA is twice as likely to occur in someone with chronic nasal congestion.
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• Asthma

How is Obstructive Sleep Apnea diagnosed?

Polysomnography
Polysomnography is a test to identify sleep disorders. Done while you’re fully asleep, specialized equipment is used to record data on your sleep patterns. This equipment monitors your heart, lung and brain activity, breathing patterns, arm and leg movements, and blood oxygen levels. Data obtained will be used to chart your sleep cycles to determine sleep apnea.