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Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing for more than 10 seconds, which leads to insufficient oxygenation of the body. People suffering from this condition are tired and sore after waking up. Falling asleep in front of the TV, during a conversation or while stuck in traffic is a premise for diagnostic tests.
Typical symptoms are usually ignored by the patient. Since snoring is sometimes associated with apnea, it is usually people close to you who notice the problem.
Categories of obstructive sleep apnea OSA
The discomfort increases with the frequency of apneas per hour of sleep. On their basis, the degree of the disease is determined:
normal – up to 5 apneas per hour,
mild – between 5 and 15,
medium – from 16 to 30,
severe – more than 30 breath stops.
Symptoms and risks
People suffering from obstructive sleep apnea complain after waking up headaches, dry mouth, concentration problems, are weak and irritable due to too low oxygenation. They are exposed to heart and circulatory system diseases, arrhythmias, hypertension, and men may also suffer from erection problems. The health of diabetics, people with metabolic syndrome, glucose intolerance, but also those suffering from cerebral circulation disorders, heart failure or ischemic heart disease may deteriorate.
Due to the blockage of the upper airways, OSA can last for several minutes, which is why it is a serious breathing disorder. The comfort of sleep decreases with each unconscious awakening that accompanies periods of apnea.
How does apnea arise?
Pathologies located in the area of the nasopharynx contribute to the complete shutting off of the air supply through the upper respiratory tract to a person who is asleep.
In supine sleepers, there is a narrowing of the airway through the nose and through the mouth, which is why snoring gradually increases. This phenomenon takes place especially in the first phase of sleep.
Breathing through the mouth is stopped due to the collapse of the soft part of the palate and the base of the tongue. Breathing through the nose progresses with resistance. Snoring becomes louder and more and more often the sleeper literally loses his breath.
Nasal breathing is restricted. In addition to the strong, tiring sounds of snoring, the state of apnea increases. Sleep loses its regenerative essence, becomes restless, undergoes frequent interruptions.
Risk factors
Obstructive sleep apnea is usually suffered by men over 35 years of age, people with a deviated nasal septum, hypertrophy of the nasal turbinates, tongue, uvula, palatine tonsils, but also with an excessively flaccid soft palate. In addition, we can distinguish factors dependent on the will of the patient, such as: smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol, sleeping pills and obesity.
There is no way that apnea will go away on its own. The treatment of apnea is not reimbursed by the National Health Fund, together with the diagnosis, it costs the patient up to PLN 2. The National Health Fund reimburses the Cepap mask, which provides more oxygen, but does not remove the causes of the disease.