What is Obstructive Sleep Apnoea?
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a common and serious sleep disorder that causes you to stop breathing during sleep. The airway repeatedly becomes blocked, limiting the amount of air that reaches your lungs. When this happens, you may snore loudly or making choking noises as you try to breathe. Your brain and body becomes oxygen deprived and you may wake up. This may happen a few times a night, or in more severe cases, several hundred times a night.
In many cases, an apnoea, or temporary pause in breathing, is caused by the tissue in the back of the throat collapsing. The muscles of the upper airway relax when you fall asleep. If you sleep on your back, gravity can cause the tongue to fall back. This narrows the airway, which reduces the amount of air that can reach your lungs. The narrowed airway causes snoring by making the tissue in back of the throat vibrate as you breathe.
There are many people with Sleep Apnoea who have not been diagnosed or received treatment. Sleep Apnoea is treated using Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) or Oral Appliance Therapy, the front line treatment for Sleep Apnoea.
What are the Symptoms of Sleep Apnoea?
The symptom most commonly associated with Sleep Apnoea is snoring. Not everyone who snores has Sleep Apnoea. If snoring is combined with choking or gasping sounds, it is likely to be Sleep Apnoea.
Daytime fatigue is another common symptom.
The symptoms of Sleep Apnoea include:
Loud or frequent snoring
Choking or gasping while you sleep
Pauses in breathing
Morning headaches
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Insomnia due to difficulty staying asleep
Waking up with dry mouth or a sore throat
Frequent need to urinate during the night
Trouble concentrating
Memory or learning problems
Moodiness, irritability or depression
What are the Risk Factors for Sleep Apnoea
A common misconception is that Sleep Apnea only affects older, overweight men. This widely-held assumption is wrong: anyone can have Sleep Apnoea, regardless of gender, age or body type. If you have any of the following traits you may be at increased risk:
Excess weight – An adult with a BMI of 25 or higher is considered to be overweight. Your risk of Sleep Apnea increases with the amount of excess body weight.
Large neck size (>43 cm for men, > 40 cm inches for women) – A large neck will have more fatty tissue that can block your airway.
Older age (40+ for men, 50+ for women) – Sleep Apnoea occurs more often in older adults, especially people older than 60.
Male – Men have twice the risk of having Sleep Apnoea compared to women
Smoker – Smokers have a higher risk of Sleep Apnoea
Hypertensive – High blood pressure is very common in people with Sleep Apnoea
Family history – Sleep Apnoea can appear more often among family members..
What are the effects of OSA?
Sleep Apnoea can make you wake up in the morning feeling tired or unrefreshed even though you have had a full night of sleep. During the day, you may feel fatigued, have difficulty concentrating or you may even unintentionally fall asleep. This is because your body is waking up numerous times throughout the night, even though you might not be conscious of each awakening.
The lack of oxygen your body receives can have negative long-term consequences for your health. This includes:
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Stroke
Pre-diabetes and diabetes
Depression
Research has shown that people with untreated Sleep Apnoea are between two to five times more likely to have a motor vehicle accident than someone without Sleep Apnoea.
What screening tests are available for OSA?
Come in and speak to our pharmacist Que to discuss our screening tests which can be done in the comfort of your own home.
Things to avoid if you have OSA
Alcohol may worsen Sleep Apnoea because it relaxes your muscles. Mild Sleep Apnoea can become severe after a few drinks.
Smoking – this damages the upper airway and makes it more collapsible
Sleeping tablets can reduce the drive to breathe
Sleep deprivation – this can compound the sleepiness already present because of Sleep Apnoea.
