Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

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.

OSA is characterized by repeated episodes of either partial or complete obstruction of the upper airways during sleep due to excessive relaxation of airway musculature, which leads to cessation

Sleep Apnea is a chronic sleep disorder causing shallow, infrequent or pauses in breathing. According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep apnea affects more than 18 million Americans and is as common as type two diabetes. Common in both children and adults, there are three main types of sleep apnea. The first is central apnea, followed by the most common form, obstructive apnea and finally the combination of both, mixed/ complex apnea. Although these three types of apnea have differing symptoms and treatments, they all share negative effects on the body and sleep cycles. The quality of sleep is usually lower than normal, as the pauses in breathing can often bring apnea patients from a deep to a shallow slumber, as the body’s natural warning for oxygen. This lack of deep sleep can also cause drowsiness and fatigue during the daytime in addition to eyesight problems and reduced reaction times. Sleep apnea, occurring in both children and adults is higher in prevalence in Hispanic and African-American men.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major health problem, as more than 22 million adults in the U.S suffer from OSA.1 The prevalence of moderate to severe OSA in older adults aged 65 and over is twice as high as that in middle-aged adults.2 Unfortunately, estimates suggest that 85% of individuals with moderate to severe OSA remain undiagnosed.3 Individuals with untreated moderate to severe OSA are at a greater risk for depression (DEP), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia compared to individuals with no OSA. In OSA, repetitive intracranial blood flow surges during apneic episodes cause disturbances in microvascular functions, resulting in hypoperfusion4-6 and poor cerebral vasomotor reactivity.7-9 Hypoxemia promotes the development of cerebral small vessel disease (C-SVD).10-13 Repeated rapid alternations between hypoxia and reoxygenation cause oxidative stress,14,15 which alters blood-brain barrier functions and leads to the formation of C-SVD.16-18 The consequences of C-SVD are 1) disruption of neuronal activity in regions involved in the regulation of mood and cognition 11,19,20 and 2) reduction of prefrontal and frontal lobe vascular perfusion,10,21-23 which causes neuronal metabolic deficiencies that may lead to synaptic loss and neuronal damage.24,25 The progression of C-SVD is now known to be associated with new-onset depression,26 MCI,27,28 and an increased risk for dementia.27,29,30 Based on this supporting evidence, we hypothesize that C-SVD may mediate

Psychology is an immense, widely varied, and diverse field of study. Over the years, the field of psychology has grown, and so have the vast topics the field examines and studies. A few major perspectives of psychology are psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and biological (Cherry, 2016). Of these areas, OSA can fit under the biological perspective. Obstructive Sleep Apnea suitably relates to this category since it is largely a result of our biological, or physical, makeup.

Getting restful sleep is vital. During sleep, blood pressure and body temperature changes, while respiration and heart rate decreases. Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is defined by repeated interruptions in breathing and / or reduced respiratory flow during sleep. The most common symptoms include difficulty breathing, snoring, restless sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, frequent headaches, enlarged tonsils and large tongue volume, and irritability. Sleep apnea can be mild, moderate or severe. If it's left untreated, sleeping apnea may lead to diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity or depression. One common treatment is the use of sleep apnea devices.

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.

Sleep apnea is a subtle yet extremely dangerous condition that can cause many issues. It is a condition where the patient ceases breathing for periods of time during sleep (American Sleep Apnea Association). It is caused mainly by blockage of the larynx by overgrown tissue. Sleep apnea makes it difficult to enter deeper stages of sleep which in turn causes many issues. “Left untreated, sleep apnea can have serious and life-shortening consequences: high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, automobile accidents caused by falling asleep at the wheel, diabetes, depression, and other ailments (American Sleep Apnea Association).” Sleep apnea can cause truly life threatening and shortening issues. Sleep apnea is difficult to diagnose. The disorder

Sleep apnea is categorize into two different groups; Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) is caused by cessations in air flow without respiratory effort. The CSA cases are extremely rare and often are mixed with Obstructive sleep apnea [1]. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the occasional interruption of breathing during sleep as a result of periodic airway blockage. It is more common in middle-aged adults and preschool children [2]. Obstructive sleep apnea is considered a serious medical condition and millions suffer from OSA worldwide. Complications may include: hypertension, heart failure, myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, and stroke [3].

Obstructive Sleep Apnea may be caused by either structural defect, swelling to airway passages, obesity, or the muscles are unable to support the airway due to loss of muscle tone during sleep. Structural defects include deviated septum, which narrows the nasal canals causing airflow to increase in speed and increase the chance of airway collapse. Changes in the spinal column can cause the tongue to sit closer to the pharynx causing the airway.” Mucosal swelling to the nasal canals can be cause by allergy’s, allergic reaction, or upper airway infections.” (Ronald M. Harper, 1988) Obesity

Sleep apnea is a condition where an individual's airway collapses during sleeping. As a result, the person goes without breathing for up to a minute and wakes momentarily gasping for breath. This can happen dozens, even hundreds, of times throughout the night. Not getting the oxygen they need, the brain,

If you or someone in your family snores loudly during naps or nighttime sleep, this is probably getting old. Snoring this loudly keeps other family members awake. Worse, it can interfere with the sleep of the person doing the snoring. And with how little time there is to get sleep thanks to our busy lives, using that time effectively is very important.

Since the dawn of time humans, for some reason or another has had difficulty with sleep. The cause could vary from the rock pillow was too hard to a pea under the mattress. We have now come to learn that a disorder called sleep apnea could be the reason. According to the National Institutes of Health approximately 12 million United States citizens were afflicted by this disorder (Singer). The Greek word Apnea means without breath and sleep apnea is an involuntary cessation of breathing that occurs while a person is asleep (American Sleep Apnea Association). There are three different types of sleep apnea, when the back of the throat closes called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), for Central Sleep Apnea the brain “forgets” to signal muscles to

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form between both sleep apneas. OSA occurs when the upper airway collapse during sleep. Collapse of the upper airway may cause decreases in ventilation, but not complete cessation of it, with desaturation and arousal (hypopnea) and/or complete cessation of airflow for more than 10 seconds entitled apnea (Figure 1) 1. Common symptoms of OSA are frequent arousal, snoring, choking/gasping, daytime sleepiness, increased carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood (hypercapnea), and a decrease of oxygen level in the body (hypoxia). As stated before, OSA is more common in men than in women. Other factors that influence OSA are those with an increased body mass index, thick neck/circumference, small erythematous oropharynx, position of body during sleep (most commonly the supine position), medication, alcohol, or pre-existing cardiac complications2. Usually, OSA is diagnosed by a sleep doctor monitoring the patient during a polysomnography (sleep study). Having a sleep study done is the gold standard diagnostic for assessing sleep-disordered breathing. There is monitoring of the airflow of the nose and mouth, end tidal CO2, the patient’s sleep state by electroencephalography, movement of the chest and abdomen, pulse oximetry, and blood pressure. “The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)—the number of obstructive events per hour—is the most commonly used measurement to quantify OSA: mild OSA = 5 to 15 events/hour; moderate = 15 to 30

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with cognitive decline and depression. This is the first study explicitly evaluating the impact of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on neurocognitive functions and changes in brain morphology in older adults with both depression and cognitive impairment. Under the mentorship of Dr. D.P Devanand, I prospectively screened OSA with the STOP-Bang questionnaire in patients enrolled into the Donepezil Treatment of Cognitive Impairment and Depression (DOTCODE) trial. High and low probability of OSA were defined as a STOP-Bang score of ≥5 (h-OSA) and of <5 (l-OSA), respectively. Baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to evaluate brain morphology. The initial 16 weeks of antidepressant treatment were part