Sleep Apnea - What Is It?
Are you concerned that you or your partner has sleep apnea? The American Academy of Sleep Medicine provides this definition:
“Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder that involves a decrease or complete halt in airflow despite an ongoing effort to breathe. It occurs when the muscles relax during sleep, causing the soft tissue in the back of the throat to collapse and block the upper airway. This leads to partial reductions (hypopneas) and complete pauses (apneas) in breathing that last at least 10 seconds during sleep. Most pauses last between 10 and 30 seconds, but some may persist for one minute or longer. This can lead to abrupt reductions in blood oxygen saturation, with oxygen falling as much as 40% or more in severe cases.
The brain responds to the lack of oxygen by alerting the body, causing a brief arousal from sleep that restores normal breathing. This pattern can occur hundreds of times in one night. The result is a fragmented quality of sleep that often produces an excessive level of daytime sleepiness.
Most people with OSA snore loudly and frequently, with periods of silence when airflow is reduced or blocked. They then make choking, snorting or gasping sounds when their airway reopens.”
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Risk Groups
- Being overweight (Body Mass Index of 25 — 29.9) or obese (Body Mass Index of 30 and above)
- Large neck size — 17 inches or more for men; 16 inches or more for women
- Middle aged or older men; post-menopausal women
- Ethnic minorities
- Abnormalities of the bony and soft tissue structure of the head and neck
- Down Syndrome (adults and children)
- Children with large tonsils and adenoids
- Having a family member with OSA
- Endocrine disorders such as Acromegaly and Hypothyroidism
- Smoking
- Nocturnal nasal congestion due to abnormal morphology, rhinitis or both
People with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure or Parkinson’s disease may be at an increased risk of also having Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). In addition, other health issues such as asthma, prior stroke and some hormonal disorders can also increase one’s risk of developing OSA.
Self Test
- Loud snoring
- Episodes in which you stop breathing during sleep
- Gasping for air during sleep
- Dry mouth in the morning
- Morning headaches
- Frequent waking during the night
- Excessive daytime drowsiness
- Difficulty in concentrating during the day
- Irritability
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, please take one or both of the tests below. These questionnaires are used by some doctors to screen patients for sleep disorders. You can fill them out and see the results to assess your score. If necessary, you should share your results with your doctor.