Sleep Apnea

Last week, I was officially diagnosed with Sleep apnea, something that I think I was trying to deny for awhile now until my wife suggested that I look into doing a sleep study. Lately, I have been feeling exhausted throughout the day and she said that she has noticed it since at least the beginning of the year.  I think I have been getting nudged at least once or twice per night by her, but I just figured I was snoring too loud and it was keeping her awake...except for the fact that I was on my side and normally don't sound like a chainsaw when I snore.  I know that being overwieght is part of the issue, but I didn't realized what other factors played a part in me finally agreeing to do a sleep study.

Sleep apnea is a term that is very well known and we usually associate it with people who snore very loudly.  However, I am sure that there are quite a few people that don't know that it is actually the repeated stoppage of breathing during sleep and that it often goes undiagnosed.  When these stoppages occur, the brain has to briefly arouse the person enough to get them to continue breathing.  When you add up all of these occurances, the result is non-restful sleep and the person will usually have a hard time getting up and going in the morning and making it through the day without feeling tired or exhausted.  Other common complaints that can be associated with sleep apnea include waking up with headaches, falling asleep in the car while driving or at a stop, memory problems, depression, reflux, frequent trips to the bathroom during the night, and impotence.  For children, it could be a potential cause of hyeperactivity.  If sleep apnea is not treated in a timely manner, it can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

"Sleep apnea is as common as diabete and affects more than 12 million American, according to the National Institutes of Health." -www.sleepapnea.org

Types of Sleep Apnea
There are 3 Types of sleep apnea: Obstructive, Central, and Mixed, with Obstructive being the most common. 

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):  occurs when the airway becomes blocked by the collapse of the soft tissue in the back of the throat
• Central Sleep Apnea:  The airway remains unblocked but the brain does not tell the muscles to make you breath
• Mixed:  A combination of the other two types

Risk Factors
In researching a little bit more about sleep apnea when my wife suggested that I look into doing a sleep study, I found that some of these risk factors made sleep apnea a very likely diagnosis for me. Here are to risk factors for sleep apnea (not just the one's that applied to me)

• Family History of sleep apnea
• Overweight (but can affect any weight)
• Male (also female)
• Over 40 (but can affect any age)
• Large Neck
• Recessed chin
• Abnormalities in upper airway structure
• Smoking
• Drinking
• Ethnicity (African American, Asian, Mexican)

The last risk factor, ethnicity, was one that didn't occur to me until I met with the specialist.  Being of Asian descent, we typically have narrow neck and facial features that lead to airway obstruction.

Treatment Options for OSA
Treatment for sleep apnea can be as simple as positional therapy or as drasctic as surgery.  The goal of positional therapy is simply to keep you from sleeping on your back, the position most associated with sleep apnea.  Some of the products that are available to help are foam wedges to elevate the torso in more of a reclingin position, alarms that go off when you roll onto your back, but the simplest solution is to sew a tennis ball to the back of a night shirt to prevent you from rolling over on your back comfortably.  The most drastic option, surgery, is meant to widen the airway in order to prevent obstructions to occur.  There are several different procedures, each with their own effective rates, but there is the likley chance that it could have no affect or acutally worsen the apnea.  Other options include oral appliances, weight loss if that is a factor, and the avoidance of alcohol and other CNS (Central Nervous System) depressants.

The most common and most effective treatment method is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP which is a machine that blows pressurized room air into the airway to keep it from collapsing, causing apnea.  The pressure necessary to keep the airway open varies form person to person and is dependent on the severity of the apnea.  It takes some getting used to epsecially if you are used to breathing through your mouth when sleeping.  If you open your mouth, the pressure will come out of your mouth and defeat the purpose of what the CPAP is supposed to do.  There are different types of machines and masks so proper fitting by an appropriate medical supply provider can be beneficial to comfort. 

Once again, in any case, be sure to consult with your regular doctor to figure out what options are best for you if you are ever diagnosed with sleep apnea.