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department of Medicine

Section of pulmonary and critical care medicine

Information for Patients - Obstructive Sleep Apnea

 

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that affects over 2 million Americans. It may occur at any age, including childhood, but is found most frequently in middle age or older adults; sleep apnea is more recognized in men, but it occurs in women as well.

 

A typical symptom of obstructive sleep apnea is loud snoring that is often more disturbing to family and friends. The snoring is interrupted by pauses in breathing (apnea) that often end in a snorting gasp, or choking. These events, repeated throughout the night, cause very disturbed sleep.

 

As a consequence of the poor sleep, the person may feel sleepy during the day. At first, there is dozing during quiet times (reading, watching TV); however, sleepiness usually progresses to inappropriate dozing (during conversations, business meetings, while driving, or during meals).

 

Other symptoms of sleep apnea include restlessness, sweating during sleep, morning headaches, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and even insomnia.

 

Snoring and apnea are caused by lack of space in the upper airway (nose to back of throat) due to several factors including small dimensions, or sloppy tissue. Once asleep, these factors cause the tissue to vibrate (the snore) or block off the airway (the apnea). When the air passage is blocked oxygen cannot get in; therefore, oxygen in the body decreases. This causes stress on the heart, blood vessels, and brain and leads to an arousal (brief awakening). With the arousal, the air passage opens and lets the oxygen in. Because arousals are usually brief, people who suffer from sleep apnea do not realize that these events are occurring during their sleep. All arousals lead to sleep disruption and cause sleepiness the next day.

 

Untreated obstructive sleep apnea increases other health risk such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. The associated sleepiness increases the risk of accidents, including car accidents and work related injuries.

 

Obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed with a sleep test that is usually performed in a sleep laboratory. During a sleep test, breathing, heart rate, brain waves, and muscle activity are monitored. This information is essential to determine proper treatment.

 

People who have sleep apnea can be offered many options for treatment. The goal of treatment is to eliminate apnea, snoring, and the resulting sleep disruption in order to improve the quality of sleep and daytime function, and to reduce health risks.

 

We hope that this information helps to answer your questions and provides some background about sleep apnea. If you like additional information, please do not hesitate to call our Sleep Disorders Center at (215) 707-8163.