Sleep apnea is described as a symptom complex (group of symptoms) or a syndrome characterized by erratic breathing while sleeping. Because of this, a person’s oxygen level in the blood falls, (sometimes drastically) at regular intervals without the person even knowing it. Typically, the person feels very sleepy during the day, wakes up very often during the night, and experiences general fatigue. If proper treatment is not provided to treat sleep apnea, it can lead to various health issues such as cardiomyopathy, heart attack, stroke, hypertension and diabetes. This condition if left untreated can lead to work-related accidents, underachievement in school by children, motor vehicle crashes and job impairment.
Sleep apnea is divided into two subtypes-
Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea are as follows:
Causes
What happens is, there are involuntary pauses during sleep which are called apnoeic events. During the pauses, there is no or reduced intake of oxygen and no exhaling of carbon dioxide. Hence, the oxygen levels in the blood drop and carbon dioxide levels increase. The number of these events and the level of oxygen level drop determines the severity of the sleep apnoea. The more severe it is, the faster and severe will be its effects such as extreme fatigue, lack of concentration, high blood pressure, respiratory complications, depression and heart ailments.
Risk Factors
Most people don’t know about sleep apnea and think that snoring is just something to laugh off. But it can be quite dangerous. There are conditions that predispose people to the condition, they are
Sleep apnoea is diagnosed by various methods as specified-
Early and milder forms of sleep apnoea can and should be treated with changes in lifestyle, eating and drinking habits. Another important change that has to be implemented is to change one’s sleeping posture such as lying on the side. An important step is to manage the associated medical conditions such as hypothyroidism and obesity.
In the case of more advanced or non-responding sleep apnoea, there are ways to manage the condition surgically. Surgeries like tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils), adenoidectomy (removal of adenoids), surgery to reduce the size of a bulky tongue, or corrective surgery for the straightening of a deviated nasal septum etc. help relieve the conditions. Other non-surgical methods include wearing a breathing mask attached to a pressure pump every night which delivers air at increased pressure to the breathing passages and lungs. This method can be combined with surgical methods to help the patient.
Though there are some unique products that are available in the market to stop snoring, it is unlikely that they will offer a significant relief since Snoring and Sleep apnoea are two different entities. At best they can offer a temporary solution.
Lifestyle modifications in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea are as follows:
Prognosis
Obstructive sleep apnoea has an excellent short-term prognosis for the patient. However, mild obstructive sleep apnoea patients show differences, and long-term cardiovascular disorder outcomes have shown temporary improvement in symptoms. Obstructive sleep apnea left untreated can be life-threatening. Excessive daytime sleeping can lead to sleepiness related incidents. Usually, patients develop cardiopulmonary disease, neurocircuitry dysfunction and cerebrovascular incidents if moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea is left untreated. The therapeutic pathways have, however, not been effective in reducing cardiovascular events and neurocognitive functions in the long term.
Complications
Anyone who suffers from sleep apnoea is more at risk of sudden cardiac death and also death due to its other systemic effects. If sleep apnoea is not properly treated it can give rise to various health issues such as arrhythmias, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, heart attacks, obesity, and cardiomyopathy, i.e. the enlargement of the heart muscle. Sleep apnoea is a complication in people with heart failure or atrial fibrillation; this is because of changes in carbon dioxide levels, recurrent hypoxia, increased inflammatory markers and direct effect on the heart within the chest. Finally, sleep apnoea is a serious condition, the best thing to do in cases of severe snoring is to visit your doctor.
References
1. Cleveland clinic. Sleep Apnea [Internet] Available at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8718-sleep-apnea. Accessed on March 23, 2021. (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8718-sleep-apnea)
2. Stat Pearls. Sleep Apnea Syndrome [Internet] [Updated on November 7, 2020] Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564431/. Accessed on March 23, 2021. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564431/)
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