Sleep Apnea Treatment

Sleep Apnea is a condition during which breathing regularly stops and starts during sleep. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and still feel exhausted after a full night’s sleep.

These are the primary forms of sleep apnea:

• The more prevalent type of obstructive sleep apnea is which occurs when throat muscles relax
• When your brain fails to properly communicate with the breathing muscles during sleep, central sleep apnea results.
• Occurring when a person has both central and obstructive sleep apnea, complex sleep apnea syndrome is often referred to as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea.

Symptoms

It can be challenging to distinguish between obstructive and central sleep apneas since their signs and symptoms sometimes coincide. Obstructive and central sleep apneas have several comparable indications and symptoms:

1. Snoring loudly.
2. Episodes where you stop breathing while sleeping, which another else might notice.
3. During sleep, gasping for breath and Waking up with a dry mouth.
4. Daytime headache.
5. Having trouble remaining asleep (insomnia).
6. Excessive slumber during the day (hypersomnia).
7. Inability to concentrate while awake.
8. Irritability.

When to consult a Doctor:

Although loud snoring may be a sign of a potentially dangerous issue, not all people with sleep apnea snore. If you experience any sleep apnea symptoms, consult your doctor. Any sleep issue that makes you tired, sleepy, or irritated should be brought up with your doctor.

Obstructive sleep apnea:

When the muscles in the back of your throat relax, this happens. These muscles provide support for the tonsils, the soft palate, the uvula, the triangle tissue that hangs from the soft palate, the side walls of the throat, and the tongue.

Your airway narrows or shuts as you inhale when the muscles relax. If you aren’t getting enough air, it might cause your blood’s oxygen level to drop. Your brain awakens you temporarily from sleep when it detects that you are having trouble breathing so that you can reopen your airway. Usually, this revelation is so fleeting that you don’t recall it.

You could choke, snort, or gasp. This sequence can continue five to thirty times or more per hour, all night, making it difficult for you to get to the deep sleep stage.

Central sleep apnea:

When your brain is unable to send instructions to your breathing muscles, you get this less frequent type of sleep apnea. In other words, you briefly stop breathing without trying. Breathing difficulties or trouble falling or staying asleep could cause you to wake up.

Risk Factors

Anyone, even toddlers, can develop sleep apnea. However, a few things make you more vulnerable.

Obstructive sleep apnea

This type of sleep apnea is more likely to occur in those who:

• Extra weight
•  Sleep apnea is considerably heightened by obesity.
• Your upper airway’s surrounding fat deposits may block your breathing.
• Neck measurement.
• Narrower airways may be present in those with thicker necks.
• A constricted airway, perhaps you were born with a narrow throat.
•  Adenoids or tonsils can potentially expand and obstruct the airway, especially in young children.
• Men are two to three times more likely than women to suffer from sleep apnea. However, women who are overweight run a higher risk, and it seems that danger increases after menopause.
• Older persons are substantially more likely to experience sleep apnea.
• A family history of sleep apnea may make you more susceptible.
• Use of alcohol, tranquilisers, or sedatives can make obstructive sleep apnea worse by loosening the muscles in your throat.
• Obstructive sleep apnea is three times as common among smokers than it is in non-smokers. Smoking can make the upper airway more inflammatory and fluid-retained.
• Obstructive sleep apnea is more likely to occur in those who have trouble breathing via their nose, whether due to anatomical issues or allergies.
• Ailment conditions: Some of the factors that may raise the risk of obstructive sleep apnea include congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease. Risk factors include having polycystic ovarian syndrome, hormonal issues, a history of stroke, and persistent lung conditions including asthma.

Central sleep apnea

The following are risk factors for this type of sleep apnea:

• Central sleep apnea is more common in middle-aged and older persons.
• Men are more likely than women to experience central sleep apnea.
• Heart problems: Congestive cardiac failure raises the danger.
• Central sleep apnea is made more likely by opioid drugs, especially long-acting ones like methadone.
• You are more likely to develop central sleep apnea or treatment-emergent central sleep apnea if you have had a stroke.

Complications

Possible complications include:

• Daytime drowsiness, Normal, restorative sleep is impossible due to the frequent awakenings brought on by sleep apnea, which increases the likelihood of extreme daytime sleepiness, weariness, and irritability.
• You can have trouble staying awake and find yourself nodding off when working, watching TV, or even while driving. Accidents in the workplace and on the road are more likely to occur in those with sleep apnea.
• You might also experience moodiness, irritability, or depression. Sleep apnea in children and teenagers may cause poor academic performance or behavioural issues.
• Heart issues or high blood pressure: Sleep apnea causes abrupt reductions in blood oxygen levels, which raise blood pressure and tax the cardiovascular system. High blood pressure is more likely to occur if you have obstructive sleep apnea (hypertension).
• Additionally, having obstructive sleep apnea may make you more susceptible to repeated heart attacks, strokes, and irregular heartbeats like atrial fibrillation. Multiple episodes of low blood oxygen (hypoxia or hypoxemia) in a person with heart disease might result in sudden death from an erratic heartbeat.
• Diabetes type 2: You run a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance if you have sleep apnea.
• Syndrome metabolic: A higher risk of heart disease is associated with this ailment, which includes high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, excessive blood sugar, and an enlarged waist circumference.

Complications after surgery and prescription drugs

Additionally, general anaesthesia and other drugs can increase the risk of obstructive sleep apnea. Due to their propensity for breathing issues, especially when under anaesthesia and lying on their backs, people with sleep apnea may be more likely to experience complications after major surgery.

• Inform your surgeon about your sleep apnea and current treatment regimen before the procedure.
• Who suffer sleep apnea are more prone to have abnormal liver function test findings and to have scarring in their livers (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease).