Sleep Apnoea

Overview

Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder causing breathing lapses during sleep. The body stops breathing many times while an individual is asleep, and this sleep disorder is considered really serious and can't be left untreated. The body feels tired, an individual will snore more loudly than usual, and still, the body will be tired even after having adequate sleep. Obesity is the most common cause of this disorder

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnoea is when your breathing stops and starts while you sleep. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is the most common type of this disorder wherein there is a complete airway collapse or a partial collapse with an associated decrease in oxygen saturation or arousal from sleep. Sleep apnoea or sleep apnea, happens because of two main factors:

· When your breathing pattern is not correctly managed by the brain.

· There can be a blockage in the airway.

These two factors can lead to sleep apnea. The brain always manages to remind your body about the breathing patterns, but this, in turn, leads to a poor sleep schedule. A healthy sleeping pattern is necessary for our body to perform everyday tasks. However, this condition can notably cause serious complications, although sleep apnea is proven manageable with accurate treatments.

Types of Sleep Apnoea
It's important for an individual to know what type of sleep apnea an individual falls under. There are various types of sleep apnoea, but the most common type is obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

· Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA): In OSA, the airways become partially or completely blocked when the muscles in your head relax while you're sleeping, and ultimately that causes the soft tissue to put strain on the windpipe. This obstructs the passage of the airway completely, making it difficult for air to pass through. While you're asleep, your chest muscles work harder than usual to reopen your airflow pathway. Your body may experience jerks and long and deep gasps which affect your sleep.

· Central sleep apnoea: Since your brain sends signals to the muscles to interfere and reopen the airflow pathway; in this condition, your brain fails to send signals to the associated muscles to restart the breathing process. CSA happens to individuals with neuromuscular diseases like heart failure, nervous system damage, low blood sugar levels, and lung diseases, where their brain is unable to send signals to respiratory muscles making it difficult for air to pass through.

· Complex sleep apnoea: A syndrome where an individual has both obstructive sleep apnoea and central sleep apnoea. This is a critical and complicated situation where a call for emergency treatment is made.

The determination of the types is extremely necessary for timely and adequate treatment. The treatment is taken under severe emergency in terms of complex sleep apnoea as this condition has fatal after-effects on the affected individuals. The severity of sleep apnea must be kept under serious consideration to provide effective and accurate treatment for the betterment of an individual.

How Does Sleep Apnoea Attack Our Body?
When you have sleep apnoea, breathing takes brief pauses while an individual is asleep. When the body is at rest, the muscles in your tongue and mouth relax slightly. They rest in a manner to allows the airflow and keeps it maintained for necessary processes happening inside our body. But what happens when these muscles block the airway? When these muscles relax too much than usual, the tongue drops on the strong tissue, and ultimately, it stops the flow of the air into the lungs. The lack of oxygen sends signals to your brain; hence, you experience a breakage in your sleep. Sometimes you may gasp for air to re-establish the normal airflow before getting back to sleep. The vicious cycle of waking up, and gasping for air may happen a considerable number of times at night, preventing a peaceful sleep.

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnoea and central sleep apnoea share the same symptoms, and it usually gets difficult to identify which type of apnoea an individual has. Here are some common symptoms and signs which you can look out for:

· Loud snoring
· Gasping for air during sleep.
· Brief lapses where your body stops breathing during sleep.
· Morning headache.
· Restless sleep.
· Difficulty staying asleep.
· Mood swings.
· Dizziness.
· Waking up with a dry mouth.
· Excessive daytime sleepiness.
· Fatigue.
· Difficulty paying attention while awake.

Individuals don't usually notice these changes, but people around them alert them about these symptoms. The affected individuals must act early when they notice these symptoms to actually determine the type of sleep apnoea they have.

Prevention of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea could be prevented using the following measures:

· Practice good sleep: Maintain a proper sleep schedule and environment for peaceful sleep. You must limit your caffeine consumption during bedtime.

· Weight: By maintaining a healthy weight, this can cure not only sleep apnoea but many problems related to your body. By having a healthy diet, you can lose weight to reduce the intensity of sleep apnoea.

· Quit smoking: Smoking is a great cause that worsens sleep. By quitting smoking, you can experience many health benefits, including the reduction of sleep apnoea.

· Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) Therapy: A machine that supplies air to prevent the risk of blockage of airflow. This machine acts as a supporter and supplies air while you're asleep.

· Avoid alcohol: These substances must be avoided so that it can ease the airway passage. These substances lead to airway obstruction, leading to relaxed muscles in the throat. Individuals must avoid these in the evening.

Causes of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnoea is not only sparked by environmental factors, but there are other factors that relax the tongue muscle, in turn, obstructing the airflow.
Obesity is the main cause. Fat may accumulate in the walls of the pharynx, making it difficult for the airflow to pass through. Some other causes include swollen tonsils, smoking, alcohol use, a narrow throat, endocrine conditions like hypothyroidism, lung disease, heart or kidney failure, neuromuscular condition, and pregnancy.

Tests and Treatments of Sleep Apnea

To gain a proper understanding of the signs your body is trying to send you, the doctors will run certain tests to diagnose what the actual problem is. Your current symptoms will make it really easy for the doctors to identify whether you have sleep apnea and what type of sleep apnea category you fall under. The following are the possible outcomes to diagnose sleep apnoea.

Physical Exam: Doctors will perform certain physical tests to check for signs or factors that are influencing the risk of sleep apnea. They'll check your heart, lungs, and positioning of the tongue, they may check the jaw and structure and also look out for neurological problems if an individual has any.

Medical history: Doctors will check your medical condition based on the information you've provided about the signs and symptoms; you've been noticing lately. Doctors will look out for the family's history and check if sleep apnea is passed on through genetics.

Sleep studies: The doctor may recommend another alternative to gain full insights into your sleeping pattern, the sleep specialist or centre that will help you in the process of sleep study. The tests will examine your blood oxygen levels, find the highs and lows of activity in muscles, identify the events during sleep that are associated with sleep apnoea and check your heart and brain activity during sleep.

Nocturnal polysomnography: The equipment will monitor the lung, heart, and brain activity of the individual. It also keeps a check on blood oxygen levels, and breathing patterns while you're asleep.

Doctors prescribe various medications for individuals as well; adults are supposed to undergo tests associated with sleep apnoea for accurate reading and treatment accordingly.

Treatment of Sleep Apnoea
Doctors will recommend alternatives based on the symptoms. For something not very serious, they can suggest some lifestyle changes like losing weight, completely avoiding smoking or treating nasal allergies (in some cases) and if symptoms are severe, the doctor will suggest the following treatments:

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP): A machine that will supply air through a mask while you're asleep. The air pressure supplied through the mask will help in keeping the upper airway passages open to ultimately stop apnoea and snoring.

Adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV): This device serves a great help to the body as it learns your breathing pattern, and while you're asleep, the machine will use pressure to stabilise your breathing pattern and prevent your body from taking pauses. ASV is considered really effective in complex sleep apnoea and not for any other type of apnoea.

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