Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Thank you very much for referring Neil along for further investigation of likely obstructive sleep apnoea. As you are aware, his wife who I work with at Warringal has been noticing witnessed apnoeas for many years now and has talked Neil into coming along today. Neil in himself sleeps reasonably well and is currently going to bed at around 10.00pm. He will awake between 2.00am and 4.00am and be awake for a short amount of time but will then fall back to sleep until about 7.30am or 8.00am. He wakes reasonably refreshed but of note does have some drowsiness in the afternoon. He will occasionally have an afternoon nap and quite regularly falls asleep on the couch at night. He has been retired for the last 18 months, but prior to that, he

Causes: The condition can develop in people who have a problem with the brainstem, which is the part of the brain that controls breathing. Situations that can cause or lead to CSA include: issues that involve the brainstem, such as encephalitis (brain infection), stroke, or conditions of the neck, injury to the brainstem, obesity, neurological disorders (such as Parkinson’s disease), and certain medicines (for instance narcotic painkillers). “If the apnea is not associated with another disease, it is called idiopathic central sleep apnea” (Central Sleep Apnea, Sept. 2017).

Although obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is known to be a common form of sleep-disordered breathing and increase the overall risk of mortality by one and a half times in serious cases, many patients with OSA remain undiagnosed and unrecognized by healthcare professionals (Stuart et al, 2013). Depending on the source, up to approximately 10% of women and 25% of men have OSA, while the overall prevalence of OSA in the general population is between 3% and 7%. OSA is more common in individuals who are obese, older, male, African American or of Pacific Island descent, have a family history of OSA, or have a large neck size/small airway. Patients with OSA have been shown to have a higher incidence of significant systemic conditions such as hypertension, cerebrovascular accident, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, diabetes, and dementia. Some of the eye problems linked to OSA include glaucoma/other optic neuropathies, retinal vein occlusions, central serous retinopathy (CSR), papilledema/idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), floppy eyelid syndrome (FES), and corneal disorders (i.e. keratoconus). This provides optometrists and ophthalmologists with a tremendous opportunity to play an important role in diagnosing and managing patients with OSA as well as improving their quality of life.

Sleep apnea is a common sleeping disorder where a person has experiences of not breathing during sleep. Over 20 million Americans, mostly overweight men, suffer from sleep apnea. Despite these numbers, sleep apnea is often not treated directly because its symptoms are thought to be those of depression, stress, or just loud snoring. There may be a genetic component to this disorder as it often occurs within families.People with sleep apnea stop breathing for at least 10 seconds at a time; these short stops in breathing can happen up to 400 times every night.

Sleep apnea is a chronic disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. It leads to snoring, fatigue and interruptions of oxygen flowing through the body. The need for life insurance varies with age, responsibilities and your health. Life insurance policies become valuable financial resources for maintaining a standard of life. Policies are designed to provide a fixed amount of money according the policy terms and conditions to helping families avoid hardships. Life insurance policies can include the insurer’s ability to draw against the face value of the policy in the event of an illness. In the case of having sleep apnea, the insurer becomes the beneficiary of the policy value. There are also instances, where the policy also functions as a secondary health coverage, should the primarily carrier deny the medical claim.

Heart issues: problems like congestive heart failure and fibrillation issues can contribute to sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea remains the most common and occurs when the throat muscles relax when a person sleeps. These muscles support the structures of the mouth, such as the tonsils and soft palate. When they relax, the airway closes down, temporarily halting the passing of air. When the brain realizes this is occurring, it wakes the person up to allow the airway to reopen. Most individuals don't fully wake up when this happen, and the person may actually snort when the airway reopens. This can occur hundreds of times throughout the night.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep–breathing disorder characterized by momentary episodes of either complete breathing cessation for periods of ten seconds or more (apnea) or significant reductions in breathing amplitude (hypopnea) caused by a collapsed or obstructed airway; these two conditions can lead to hypoxemia (low levels of oxygen in blood) and hypercapnia (high levels of carbon dioxide in blood). Patients are categorized as having mild, moderate or severe OSA depending on the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI), which is defined as the total numbers of apnea/hypopnea episodes per hour of sleep. In normal individuals the index is usually 5 or lower, 5-15 in mild, 15-30 in moderate and 30 or more in severe OSA patients (1, 2). In patients with mild OSA the oxyhemoglobin saturation drops to 95% and can drop below 80% in severe cases. Obstruction of the airways results in greater breathing effort and fluctuations in intrathoracic pressure, resulting in arousal, sleep interruption and reopening of the airway (3).

Avi Weisfogel is a dentist who uses oral remedies to treat sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a disorder that blocks breathing when one is asleep. This disorder mostly affects people who are overweight. Although the disorder is said to mainly come from overweight issues there are other factors that can cause it. People with genetic issues like enlarged tonsils and chronic nasal conditions are at a higher risk of suffering from sleep apnea.From the data gotten from Dr. Avi Weisfogel`s research adults are more likely to suffer from this disorder than children. The most common symptom is snoring. However sleep apnea patients can suffer from drowsiness, forgetfulness and even severe headaches. This is because the patients sleep is often disturbed from

Apnea is frightening for parents as breathing stops suddenly and a baby may become limp and blue. Breathing usually restarts after a few moments and gentle stimulation of a baby, stroking their face or moving them slightly, can encourage a quick recovery unless the child is otherwise ill with pneumonia or heart failure. Before a baby leaves the hospital, discuss with the medical team if you wish to monitor your baby’s breathing with a pulse oximeter or apnea monitor. Monitoring your baby might be a wise precaution and you can request information about resuscitation techniques if your child does not breathe after stimulation. Some parents might choose to complete a CPR course before leaving the hospital.

Lifestyles can contribute to sleep apnea. Alcohol consumption and drugs such as sedatives can lead to sleep apnea. The use of either or can relax the pharyngeal dilator muscles causing an obstruction. Alcohol can also cause swelling of the respiratory mucosa. 13 Long-term smoking diminishes upper airway muscles tone and is also linked to obstructive sleep apnea. Head and neck abnormalities can be an obvious cause for an obstruction leading to sleep apnea. Features such as a narrow hard palate, small jaw, long/large tongue, large tonsils, large adenoids, and a deviated septum could be the possible cause of obstructive sleep apnea. Due to the anatomy associated with Down syndrome, sleep apnea is commonly seen in these patients. It is possible for the person suffering from sleep apnea to attribute their symptoms to other causes. Habitual snorers are more likely to have an apnea-hypopnea index over fifteen.14 In some cases snoring is a person’s only symptom and since it occurs while asleep, it is sometimes unknown. Undiagnosed sleep apnea is a serious health risk because when left unmanaged can lead to other dangerous

Some causes or risk factors of Obstructive Sleep Apnea are being overweight or obese, having a large neck, having a narrow airway, high blood pressure, diabetes, being middle aged, and having a genetic predisposition. Patients with OSA seem to have high cholesterol with an increase in LDL’s and a decrease in HDL’s (good cholesterol (Nadeem R, 2014). Intermittent sleep or sleep deprivation causes changes in the way the body metabolizes

Sleep Apnea can lead to many serious complications. The least serious complication would be daytime fatigue and sleepiness. This would be a problem because having sleep apnea makes it impossible to get REM sleep. The lack of a good night's rest causes daytime drowsiness, fatigue, and irritability (Mayo Clinic Staff Print). The more serious complications would be cardiovascular and eye problems. During sleep apnea there is a sudden drop in blood oxygen levels causing hypertension. Hypertension can lead to other heart diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart attack, stroke, and arrhythmias. (Mayo Clinic Staff Print).

Have you ever considered the importance of sleep and the impact it can have on your health? It is likely that most of us have experienced trouble sleeping at some point in our lives. This is typical and usually lasts for a short period of time due to stress or other various factors. However, if it becomes a regular occurrence then perhaps you may be suffering from some type of sleeping disorder. Sleep disorders can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health disrupting the actions of your daily life.

Psychiatric disorders, environmental issues, life depression, chronic stress, and pain or discomfort at night are all factors that can lead to a sleep disorder.