Sleeping Disorders In Older Adults

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) describes the situation when the patients are pauses in breathing or infrequent breathing during sleep and is usually associated with reduction in blood oxygen saturation. In recent decades, sleep quality has decreased significantly. Large segments of population suffer at least occasionally from sleep disorders such as, difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, disturbing sleep patterns. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder, also known as sleep apnea-hypopnea. It is recognized as an important cause of medical morbidity and motility, and it's associated with a wide range of significant medical squeal, including metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease and arterial hypertension. Smoking is a significant

Obstructive sleep apnea is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition. It is characterized by repeated cessation of breathing while sleeping, due mostly to complete or partial pharyngeal obstruction. Objectively, it is recognized by a combination of symptoms and laboratory results. These include repetitive apneas and hypopneas, which are accompanied by hypoxia, sleep arousals, and hemodynamic changes.9–12 Moreover, activation of the sympathetic nervous system during respiratory events potentiates vasoconstriction and often triggers increases in blood pressure and heart rate.10,13 Obstructive sleep apnea is also associated with several cardiorespiratory problems (e.g., loud snoring, loud gasps, and daytime breathlessness).14,15

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.

Sleep apnea is a medical condition that should never be ignored. When a person suffers from this disorder, he or she repeatedly starts and stops breathing when they are sleeping, and this may occur hundreds of times each night. Sleep apnea comes in many forms, with the most common being obstructive sleep apnea. This type of apnea occurs when the muscles of the throat relax. A dentist may need to be seen to assist in the treatment of this condition, one which is often marked by drowsiness during the day and loud snoring at night. What do individuals need to know about this condition?

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).

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder caused by a blockage of the airways during sleep. It causes interruptions of the breath during sleep and can actually wake you up! This causes poor quality of sleep and stress on the entire body.

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 a life-threatening condition, which is the collapse of the throat and block the airway. Also known as obstructive sleep apnea – OSA, it is associated with obesity, and one of the major risk for heart disease. According to Dr. O’Neil in an OSA the upper airway closes off because the muscles that hold it open lose tone. Therefore, each time the airway closes, there is a pause in breathing. The sleep deprivation worseness obesity as well as causes a severe fatigue during the day. In addition, sleep apnea increase risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke (American Heart Association, 2015).

There is a high occurrence of apnea in patients with hypertension resistant to medication. The intermittent hypoxia seen in sleep apnea causes an increase blood pressure. A decrease in daytime blood pressure is seen in those sleep apnea patients being treated with CPAP, making CPAP favorable for sleep apnea patients with hypertension. This increased blood pressure can also lead to the deterioration of left ventricular function. The presence of sleep apnea yielded a two times greater likelihood of having heart failure. Apnea causes changes in cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic activities as well as “interthoracic pressure changes that deform and alter the size of the cardiac chambers.”1 These changes are seen as cardiac arrhythmias. Bradycardia is the most common arrhythmia seen in obstructive sleep apnea patients because there is an increase in vagal tone during apnea. Hypertension and heart arrhythmias associated with sleep apnea could lead to the development of a cerebrovascular disease. It is for this reason stroke is a risk factor of untreated sleep apnea.2 There has been a proven relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and diabetes because of the common links between the two such as obesity and hypertension. Recent research has indicated that obstructive sleep apnea impairs glucose homeostasis, independent of obesity. Obstructive sleep apnea can activate the sympathetic

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

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

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Those with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and the Effects on Blood Pressure

It is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapes during sleep. The second and less common type of sleep apnea is called central sleep apnea. This type is different from obstructive sleep apnea because the airway is not blocked, but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe, due to unsteadiness in the respiratory control center. Sleep apnea can affect anybody at any age, the risk factors for sleep apnea are male, overweight, having family history of sleep apnea, and also having large tonsils (Drager, Polotsky, Lorenzi- Filho, 2011). Sleep apnea is rising in the United States population and is becoming more of an concern for the population as far as linked risk factors are concerned (Zicari et al., 2016). A rise in the number of people who suffer from sleep apnea means an increase in the people who potentially suffer from hypertension (Strohl et al., 1994) Obesity has been one of the main problems when it comes to children suffering from sleep apnea. Children with sleep apnea can live a normal life but it can be very dangerous to

The cause of sleep apnea is due to a blockage of the throat muscles that keep airway flow open. Some of the reasons for the blockage can be the relaxing of throat muscles and tongue unusually, the size of your tongue and tonsils are not appropriate for the opening of your windpipe, and people with weight issues. Other reasons can be the size of your head and neck which may lead to a narrow airway passage in the mouth and throat. In addition, as people get older, the brain signals’ ability gets worse and causes throat muscles to stiffen. Consequently, airways have an increased chance of narrowing or collapsing (NIH-National heart, lung and blood Institute, 2012, causes). Snoring is one of the most known factor of sleep apnea, and

2. The majority of sufferers have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA is when the muscles around the base of your tongue and uvula relax during sleep and move backwards to obstruct your airway. This places stress on the heart, elevates blood pressure, and prevents restful sleep.