What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is when person stops breathing during sleep. There are many factors of this stoppage of breath. These include soft tissues relaxing and narrows airway passage, a deviated nasal bone, tonsils, large tongue size and abnormal jaw size. People with obstructive sleep apnea stop breathing during sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night. Click here for the video. Click here to contact us.

Untreated sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure stroke cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other issues. This also cause road accidents because osa patients feel sleepy during daytime and during driving. Large neck circumference is an indication of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

There are two kinds of sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

This happens when airway passage gets any obstruction during sleep. It may be soft tissues relaxing and coming down to narrow airway passage. It may be due to tonsils. Large tongue size can be a factor or a deviated nasal bone. When breathing stops due to any factor mentioned above, the air does not pass through lungs and oxygen is decreased in the body. This stoppage of breath occurs several times a night, sometimes, several hundred times. Breathing resumes with a jerk and patient falls asleep again. This cycle continues for the whole night and patient after having full night sleep is not fresh because he wakes up hundred times but does not realize.

Central Sleep Apnea

When brain does not give signal to breathe because of improper respiratory control center. Central apnea is connected to the working of the central nervous system.

Who gets Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea occurs mostly in men with overweight and bigger size of neck circumference.

Why stop breathing is dangerous during sleep

When you stop breathing, your oxygen in the blood is decreased. Carbon dioxide retains in the body. This process wakes you up with a jerk which you do not realize. Your heart accelerates and blood pressure rises.

When carbon dioxide is retained in the body, it causes high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Symptoms and Causes

Causes:

Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by an obstruction in the airway, when soft tissue collapses during sleep. As mentioned above, it happens normally with obese people.

Symptoms:

• Loud or normal Snoring.
• No Freshness during daytime
• Disturbed sleep, awake during sleep unknowingly.
• gasping or choking during sleep
• Dry mouth in the morning
• Low concentration, forgetfulness or irritability.
• Mood changing (depression or anxiety).
• Frequent nighttime urination.
• Sexual dysfunction.
• Headaches.