Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder that leads to severe health problems such as heart problems and stroke if left untreated. Imagine the shame of chasing away your bed partner because of loud snoring? Because sleep apnea causes loud snoring, daytime fatigue, and difficulty in breathing. It affects everyone in the community but mostly those who have excessive weight and neck and structural abnormalities. To get you back some quality sleep, sleep apnea in Surprise is comprehensively diagnosed and treated by holistic measures and non-invasive surgeries.
Table of Contents
Types of sleep apnea
People with sleep apnea stop breathing a few times during the night due to a limited supply of oxygen to the brain and the rest of the body. If left untreated, it can cause health problems such as diabetes, stroke, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, heart failure, and heart attack. The following are types of sleep apnea.
Obstructive apnea
It is the common form of apnea caused by airway blockage when soft tissues in the throat collapse. It ranges from mild to severe based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) measurement. Mild obstructive apnea has AHI between 5 and 15, moderate is 15 and 30, and severe is greater than 30.
Central sleep apnea
The airway remains unblocked when the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe due to instability in the respiratory control center. It is common in patients with central nervous system dysfunction such as heart failure and stroke.
Symptoms
If you are overweight, have large tonsils and tongue, sinus problems, a small jawbone, nasal obstruction, allergies, and have a family history of apnea, you may likely experience the following signs:
- Loud snoring
- Fatigue and daytime sleepiness
- Sleep restlessness
- Dry mouth and sore throat
- Depression and anxiety
- Night sweats and frequent nighttime urination
- Headaches and sexual dysfunction
- Learning and behavioral disorders in children include hyperactivity, attention deficit, bedwetting, and poor performance in school.
Diagnosis
Your sleep specialist may conduct a sleep evaluation through overnight sleep study tests to objectively determine sleep apnea.
Polysomnogram (PSG): It is done in laboratories through an overnight study to grade electrical activity of the brain, eye movement, muscle activity, heart rate, breathing patterns, airflow, and oxygen levels.
Home sleep test (HST): It is done at the comfort of your home to determine moderate to severe obstructive apnea by grading airflow, breathing effort, blood oxygen levels, and snoring.
Treatment
Holistic measures
For mild cases, the following conservative therapies are used:
Losing weight to reduce apneic events.
Avoid alcohol and certain sleeping pills to avoid collapse of the airway and increase apneic events.
Use nasal sprays and breathing strips to reduce snoring and improve airflow for nasal congestion and sinus problems for more comfortable breathing during nighttime.
Hypoglossal nerve stimulator: Help to open airways.
Mandibular advancement device: Help to prevent blockage of airways.
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy: Helps to prevent the airway from collapsing.
Surgical procedures such as somnoplasty, tonsillectomy, nasal, mandibular are used to prevent malformed tissue.
Talk to a sleep specialist today
Apart from untreated sleep apnea causing health problems such as hypertension, it can also cause job impairment, accidents, and underachievement. Book an appointment with sleep experts at Oasis Ear, Nose, and Throat and get your sleep health back on track.