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REVITALISE SLEEP CLINIC
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What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a common yet often underdiagnosed sleep disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Characterized by repeated interruptions in breathing during sleep, sleep apnea can severely impact your overall health and quality of life if left untreated.
Treating your sleep apnea can empower you to sleep sounder, awake brighter and live a healthier life.
Understanding Sleep Apnea: What Happens When You Have Sleep Apnea
The term "apnea" derives from the Greek words for "no breath" or "stopping breathing." Sleep apnea is a condition where your airway becomes blocked or collapses, causing you to stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer. During these pauses, your blood oxygen levels drop, triggering your brain to momentarily wake you up just enough to resume breathing.
This cycle of interrupted breathing can occur more than 30 times an hour, often without you being aware. The constant disruption prevents you from reaching restorative deep sleep, leading to persistent fatigue and a feeling of exhaustion the next day.
Sleep apnea is not merely an inconvenience; if left undiagnosed and untreated, it can have serious long-term effects on your health.
The condition is more common than you might think—affecting:
Types of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is classified into three main types: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), and Mixed Sleep Apnea.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Causes and Warning Signs
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most common form of sleep apnea, occurring when your upper airways become blocked or partially blocked during sleep. This blockage typically happens in the nose or throat, leading to interrupted breathing. Several factors can contribute to OSA, including:
Source: Morgenthaler TI et al. Complex sleep apnea syndrome: is it a unique clinical syndrome? Sleep 2006;29(9):1203-9.
● Being overweight (because it adds fat around your neck and airway)● Having inflamed tonsils or adenoids.● Having a blocked nose due to an allergy or cold.● A structural problem with the shape of your nose, neck or jaw.● Sleeping tablets and sedatives.● Being a smoker.● Sleeping on your back.
Common warning signs of obstructive sleep apnea include loud snoring, gasping for breath during sleep, and daytime fatigue. However, it's important to note that some individuals with OSA may not snore much at all.
What is Central Sleep Apnea ? CSA
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep, known as apneas. While brief apneas (up to five per hour) are normal in adults, those with CSA experience longer and more frequent pauses. Unlike Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), where the airway is blocked, in CSA, the body simply stops making an effort to breathe during these pauses. This lack of breathing effort sets CSA apart from the more common OSA, where individuals struggle to breathe against a blocked airway.Approximately 10% of people with sleep-related breathing issues have CSA, which significantly impacts sleep quality, leading to daytime sleepiness. Unlike OSA, loud snoring is less common in CSA, but individuals may experience insomnia or other sleep disturbances.
What Causes CSA?
CSA occurs when the brain is slow to respond to changes in blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, resulting in delayed or absent breathing efforts. This can happen in people who have had sleep apnea for an extended period, leading to a diminished breathing reflex.
Mixed Sleep Apnea: Causes and Considerations
Mixed Sleep Apnea, also known as Complex Sleep Apnea, occurs when an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) event coincides with a central sleep apnea (CSA) event. While the exact cause of Mixed Sleep Apnea is not fully understood, it typically arises when a person experiences an obstructive event (where the airway is blocked) during a central apnea event (where there is no effort to breathe).
Why Mixed Sleep Apnea Matters
Mixed Sleep Apnea can be more challenging to treat than either OSA or CSA alone. However, the good news is that once the obstructive component of sleep apnea is effectively managed, often through continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy or other treatments, the central apnea component may also resolve or significantly improve.
What Causes Sleep Apnea?
In adults the most common cause of Obstructive Sleep Apnea is obesity. Being overweight can add extra fat around the neck and airways. During sleep the throat and tongue muscles relax causing the airway to become blocked. But obesity is not the only cause - other factors are also associated with sleep apnea.
Central Sleep Apnea occurs when your brain doesn’t tell your body to take a breath. It’s normally associated with other conditions such as heart failure or stroke.
How to Prevent Sleep Apnea
If you have a family member who’s been diagnosed with sleep apnea, you’ll probably be concerned that you might also be at risk, especially if you snore. The risk of you having obstructive sleep apnea is about 50% higher if you have a parent, child or sibling with the condition. However, you can reduce your risk of sleep apnea in the future with some lifestyle changes.
Losing weight
If you’re overweight, being physically active, quitting smoking and reducing your evening intake of alcohol can all reduce your risk of being diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea.
Insomnia
If you suffer from insomnia and take sleeping pills it’s worth noting that sleeping pills may contribute to sleep apnea. Talk to your doctor about alternative remedies for insomnia.
Don't Sleep on Your Back
If you snore when you sleep on your back, try and get into the habit of sleeping on your side instead.