Healthtips

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted while they sleep. . People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night. There are two types of sleep apnea -- obstructive and central. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the more common of the two. It is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses during sleep. Risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty. However, sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age, even children. Some people with obstructive sleep apnea complain that they wake up with a very sore and/or dry throat. They may on occasion wake up with a choking or gasping sensation and sometimes seem to wake themselves up with their own snoring. A person with obstructive sleep apnea often reports sleepiness during the day due to fragmented sleep. Other symptoms may include morning headaches, forgetfulness, mood changes, and a decreased interest in sex.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in a growing number of health problems including hypertension, stroke, and heart attacks. In addition, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes as well as academic underachievement in children and adolescents.

If you have symptoms of sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to have a sleep evaluation in a sleep disorder center. A polysomnogram (PSG) is a test used to diagnose sleep apnea. During the test, a variety of body functions, such as the electrical activity of the brain, eye movements, muscle activity, heart rate, respiratory effort, air flow, and blood oxygen levels are recorded at night during sleep. After the study is completed, the number of times breathing is impaired during sleep is tallied and the severity of sleep apnea is graded.

In mild cases of sleep apnea, conservative therapy may be all that is needed. These approaches involve losing weight if you are overweight, avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills, and changing sleep positions to promote regular breathing. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a treatment in which the patient wears a mask over the nose and/or mouth. An air blower forces air through the upper airway with the air pressure adjusted so that it is just enough to prevent the upper airway tissues from collapsing during sleep. The pressure is constant and continuous.

Surgical procedures may also help people with sleep apnea. There are many types of surgery for treating OSA, some of which are performed as outpatient procedures. Surgery is reserved for people with upper airway obstruction such as a deviated nasal septum, markedly enlarged tonsils or small lower jaw with an overbite causing the throat to be abnormally narrow. These procedures are typically performed after sleep apnea has failed to respond to conservative measures and a trial of CPAP.

A physician who specializes in treating conditions of the ear, nose and throat will perform surgery to remove excess soft tissue from the throat to widen the upper airway. This may involve removing the tonsils and adenoids and other tissues in the back of the throat. Other procedures may be considered to correct an abnormally shaped wall (septum) between the nostrils or nasal polyps that block airflow through the nose. Surgery may be required to change the position of the bony structures in the upper airway, allowing air to flow more freely, especially during sleep. More than one surgery may be needed to make these changes. Rarely used as a first method for treating OSA, a tracheostomy is performed when the surgeon creates a permanent opening in the windpipe (trachea) into which a breathing tube can be inserted.