Obstructive Sleep Apnea ( Osa )

Sleep apnea appears in about 25 percent of men and almost 10 percent of women. This sleep disorder can affect people of all ages, including little babies, young children and especially people over the age of fifty and people that are overweight. There are specific physical traits and clinical features that are similar in patients with obstructive sleep apnea including a large neck, obesity, and essential irregularities that reduce the diameter of the upper airway, such as nasal blockage, a low-hanging soft palate, inflated tonsils, or a small jaw with an overbite (ClevelandClinic.org,

* Obstructive Sleep Apnea is when the pharyngeal airway collapses or narrows respectively during sleep. It is accompanied by excessive daytime sleepiness and risk for cardiovascular disease. Risk factors for OSA include obesity, large soft palate/tongue, the male sex, and aging.

The consequences of undiagnosed and untreated OSA are medically serious and economically costly. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is considered the gold standard of treatment for OSA along with lifestyle modifications. With CPAP use, patients can reduce their healthcare utilization and save money by reducing the impact of OSA symptoms, comorbidities, and motor vehicle accidents. Direct costs associated with comorbidities include increased medical expenses, emergency room visits, hospital inpatient visits, medication use, and mortality rates (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2016).

The population who are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) often experience daytime drowsiness and are at risk for ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, hypertension, and other vascular related problems (Hsu et al., 2007). There are several treatment options for people with OSA, which are weight loss, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), dental appliances, and surgical procedure. This study evaluates patients who have

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder whose prevalence is linked to an epidemic of obesity in our country. Sleep apnea is due to recurrent episodes of upper airway obstruction during sleep that are caused by elevations in upper airway collapsibility during sleep. OSA is characterized by recurrent episodes of partial or complete airway obstruction resulting in hypoxemia, hypercapnia, or a respiratory arousal.

This relaxation goes even further when the soft palate muscles and uvula (fleshy tissue) sag over the airway as well, creating the "labored and noisy" (Sleep Apnea) so readily associated with the condition. It is important for the student to know that there are times when this blockage causes breathing to stop entirely. Interestingly, those who suffer with sleep apnea do not realize it, inasmuch as another person typically hears the startling noises and suggests that there is a problem. The sufferer may display frequent episodes of falling asleep on the job, giving work associates the clue, as well. "People with sleep apnea usually aren't even aware they have a problem and may not believe it when told" (Sleep Apnea). Inasmuch as sleep apnea is potentially life threatening, it is imperative that the sufferer seeks immediate diagnosis and treatment. Early recognition and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea is a critical step not only in getting a more restful night's sleep, but also in avoiding the potential complications of irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Sleep apnea is more prevalent in men and young African-Americans; however, it has been diagnosed during all life stages. It is important for the student to know that attaining proper diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea includes consultation with a primary care physician, pulmonologist, neurologist

Description: A sleep disorder in which breathing is repeatedly stopping and starting do to the brain not sending proper signals to the respiratory muscles, which are the muscles that help you breathe.

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.

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.

Do you get elbowed, and told to roll over in the middle of the night? Do you wake up in the morning exhausted? It’s possible that you could have a severe and potentially fatal disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea. OSA can affect anyone; from infants to adults, the healthy and physically fit, and the obese.

There is a strong association between obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension, among cardiac conditions such as heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias and coronary heart disease. OSA and hypertension share similar risk factors such as age and obesity, and are commonly co-morbid. During an obstructive sleep apnea episode the patient experiences reduced airflow due to obstruction in the upper airway, leading to hypoxia and hypercapnia, the patient is typically awakened by these episodes. Due to hypoxia, OSA causes an increase in sympathetic activity, endothelial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress. Increase systemic activity leads to an increase in both heart rate and blood pressure. Endothelial dysfunction is an imbalance of vasorelaxation

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).

People who have suffer from breaks in their breathing at night are often diagnosed with sleep apnea. However, this diagnosis is often incorrect: many times, people are actually suffering from Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (or UARS), a condition that causes similar problems, but which is caused by obstructions in your throat. Understanding the differences can help you get a more accurate diagnosis from your doctor.

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.