Sleep apnea is a medical condition in which a person's breathing gets disrupted during sleep. The patients face difficulty in breathing naturally because of which the oxygen levels drop down in the body. This triggers the brain to send signals to wake up from sleep and complete the breathing process. As a result, patients might end up waking many times at night for a very brief period that they might not even remember.
Have you encountered people who snore excessively, become sweaty at night and are sluggish all day? If that’s so, there are chances that they might be suffering from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea deprives patients of their normal sleep rhythm due to which they are unable to go into a deep sleep. This makes them feel tired and lethargic the next day. If left untreated, this illness can cause severe health issues like heart failure, thyroid, diabetes, etc.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most common of the three forms of sleep apnea. It is a disease in which the patient's upper airway muscles which include the throat, tongue, nose and mouth become totally or partially blocked.
As a result, the diaphragm and chest muscles have to work even harder to breathe when there is an obstruction in the airway passage. Due to a shortage of oxygen in the blood, the brain then tells the person to get up and take a deep breath. This cycle might repeat itself several times during the night.
In this type of sleep apnea, there are no issues with the airways. Rather the problem is with the central nervous system of the patient. The central nervous system stops sending signals to the body to breathe. Consequently, the breathing pace becomes slow or sometimes the patient forgets to breathe for a significant period of time.
This is a rare condition in which both of the above-mentioned types of sleep apnea happen in a single time. There is a blockage in the throat airways and there is also a problem with the central nervous system whose job is to signal the brain to provide the breathing command to the respiratory system.
The most common symptoms that arise due to sleep apnea are:
If the above symptoms appear, the first thing you need to do is talk to your doctor. If you are diagnosed with mild to moderate sleep apnea then your doctor may prescribe you:
Sleep apnea is most common in people who are overweight. You may therefore be advised regular exercise and other weight loss methods.
Sleeping pills, alcohol and other intoxicating materials can further collapse your airway passages resulting in even worst cases of sleep apnea. Hence, these things should be avoided.
In many cases, patients who sleep on their back suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. Sleeping in the side position can keep the airways open. You may therefore use a wedge pillow or other such methods which modify your sleeping potion.
To keep the airways opened up and reduce the most common symptom of sleep apnea which is snoring and nasal congestion doctors may prescribe you some pills or nasal sprays. If there are no signs of improvement then the other possible treatment that might be suggested is PAP therapy.
Positive Airway Pressure therapy is a non-surgical method to treat sleep apnea at home. In this treatment, you will be told to use a CPAP, APAP or a BiPAP machine. These devices have compressors that will take air from their surroundings, pressurise it and deliver pressurised air to the patient through a mask that the patient would wear.
The air pressure that is given to the patient in the nostrils or mouth prevents airway blockage. It also ensures that the abundant air reaches the patient’s lungs so that the oxygen levels are maintained in the body and the patient gets a sound sleep.
There are different types of PAP devices such as
CPAP or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine is a device that provides a constant preset pressure throughout the night irrespective of whether the person is inhaling or exhaling.
This is an effective treatment to keep the airway passage open and reduce snoring in sleep apnea patients. However, patients face difficulty in breathing out against the air pressure due to which many people do not prefer CPAP therapy.
Automatic Positive Airway Pressure which is also called an Auto-CPAP device automatically adjusts the air pressure at different times of the night. The need for pressurised air may change various times during the night depending upon different stages of sleep and the sleep position.
This machine is smartly designed to track the breathing pattern of the patient and knows when to increase or decrease the pressure so that the lungs remain stress-free throughout the night and patients can have a sound sleep.
Unlike the other PAP devices, this machine has two pressure settings which are programmed to change the pressure level according to the inhalation and exhalation. The machine realises air at higher pressure when the patient is inhaling and the pressure level can reduce to a minimum 4 cmH2O at the time of exhalation.
This makes breathing out for the patient much easier as compared to other devices. It is hence suitable for patients who cannot tolerate the constant pressurised air around their mouth.
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