|
Did you know...?
- 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders; 95%
of these cases go untreated.
- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is more common than
asthma, causes more than 38,000 cardiovascular deaths annually.
- OSA carries a 3 fold risk of hypertension, and has also been
implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, congestive
heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, arrhythmias, and atherosclerosis.
Who Has Sleep Apnea?
Some of the signs and symptoms
include:
- Snoring with pauses in breathing (apnea)
- Excess daytime sleepiness
- Gasping or choking during sleep
- Restless sleep
- Problem with mental function
- Poor judgement/can’t focus
- Memory loss
- Quick to anger
- High blood pressure
- Nighttime chest pain
- Depression
- Problem with excess weight
- Large neck (>17" around in men, >16" around in women)
- Airway crowding
- Morning headaches
- Sexual problems
- Frequent trips to the bathroom at night
You can often tell when someone has O.S.A. If you listen while
the person sleeps you will hear snoring followed by silence. There may be a loud
snort or a gasp as he or she starts breathing again.
How does sleep apnea occur?
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
occurs when muscles of the soft palate and throat relax during sleep,
obstructing the airway and making breathing difficult and noisy (snoring).
Eventually the airway walls collapse, blocking airflow entirely, which results
in breathing pause or apnea. The muscles of the diaphragm and chest work harder
to try to restore the breathing. This temporarily interrupts sleep, which
activates the throat muscles and opens the airway. There is often an audible
gasp noted with this. This cycle repeats itself sometimes hundreds of times a
night. Each time breathing stops during sleep, the oxygen level in the blood
falls, causing the heart to work harder to circulate the blood. Since oxygen is
the fuel for the cardiovascular system, this creates stress on the heart, which
leads to an increase in the blood pressure and may result in irregular
heartbeats, hypertension, heart disease and stroke if it remains untreated.
Consequences of sleep apnea, if left untreated:
- High blood pressure
- Heart problems
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Car accidents and work-related accidents due to sleepiness
- Poor quality of life
- OSA patients, prior to diagnosis and treatment, use 2 ½ times
more health care dollars than patients without OSA
|
