Sleep Apnea: Symptoms, Sleep Studies, Treatments

Sleep apnea is diagnosed with a sleep study. Talk to your doctor about your problems sleeping.

Sleep apnea was discovered in 1962 and more and more is being learned about this disorder every year. The cause of sleep apnea is not known. An apnea episode is when you stop breathing for ten seconds or more at a time. These episodes can happen several hundred times a night in patients who have severe sleep apnea. There are different kinds of sleep apnea, obstructive, central and mixed. The most common type of sleep apnea is the obstructive sleep apnea. The throat is usually blocked by something, such as large tonsils, a large tongue or the jaw falling back to close off the throat, which causes the apnea. The worse the blockage is, the worse the sleep apnea will be. Sometimes this causes the person to snore loudly. But not all people who snore have sleep apnea. Another kind of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea which is caused from an unknown problem in the brain. The brain just doesn't tell the body to breathe. Mixed sleep apnea is when a person has both kinds of apnea, obstructive and central. Apnea can be when a person breathes too shallow to receive enough oxygen to the brain.

More and more research is being done on sleep apnea. Research shows that certain medications such as acetazolamide or clomipramine can be given to help certain types of sleep apnea, if the apnea is not too severe. To help central sleep apnea medroxyprogesterone or protriptyline are the drugs of choice. These medications are designed to help stimulate the need to breathe, while you sleep.

The only sure way to tell if you have sleep apnea is to have a sleep study. This test is performed overnight at a sleep lab. Close monitoring is done while the patient sleeps. The heartbeat is recorded, the oxygen saturation is taken, and many other things. At times they will put a C-PAP machine on the patient. This is a continuous positive air pressure machine that you wear on your face, sort of like an oxygen mask. It blows air and not oxygen, as it is designed to force the airway open so you can continue to breathe. This does not work in all patients and some patients cannot tolerate wearing the mask.

When you have sleep apnea you are actually sleep deprived and oxygen deprived. Therefore, you may feel tired all the time and fall asleep easily during the day. Morning headaches are common in sleep apnea patients. After having apnea for a period of time, you may be unable to concentrate, focus, or remember things as well as before. Sleep apnea can cause stroke, heart problems, high blood pressure and more, if not treated.

For obstructive sleep apnea there are several surgical procedures that can be done. A deviated septum can cause breathing problems. Surgery can correct the septum problem and the apnea can improve. Another procedure for apnea is called a UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty). During this procedure the throat (soft palate) is enlarged and the uvula is removed. The tonsils and adenoids may be removed at this time also, if needed. The LAUP is the laser-assisted UPPP. There are other surgical procedures that may correct or help improve obstructive sleep apnea. They may break the jaws and move them forward up to nine centimeters. All of these procedures have risks and are not always successful in helping sleep apnea.

Weight loss can usually help obstructive sleep apnea also, but obesity is not always the cause of sleep apnea, so in turn, weight loss may not cure sleep apnea. Some homeopathic type doctors or health and nutrition consultants may suggest taking arsenicum album (arsenic oxide).

Sleep apnea is as common as asthma or diabetes and it is not a disorder to take lightly. Research has shown that sleep apnea is most common in middle aged overweight men. Research also shows that women and children of all shaped, sizes and ages can have sleep apnea. There is still a lot to learn about this disorder.

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