EverythingYou Want Learn About Sleep Apnea
When breathing of a person during sleep is reduced or stops, this condition could be diagnosed as sleep apnea.Ordinary examination by the doctor, however, is usually insufficient to detect this disorder and sleep apnea often goes undetected. Most patients would not know if they have sleep apnea because it only happens to them while sleeping. This problem could only surface if a patient’s bed partner or family member notices the condition.
A diagnosis of this condition would reveal either of three types of apnea. These apnea classifications are central apnea, obstructive apnea, and combined central and obstructive apnea.
Central apnea occurs when the brain of a person asleep fails to activate the muscles for breathing. On the other hand, if the sleeper’s airway collapses, there is obstructive apnea. This is the most common type of sleep apnea and occurs mostly in overweight patients. There are several complications of obstructive apnea. These include heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, daytime sleepiness, difficulty in concentration and thinking which could result in accidents while driving. To diagnose and evaluate obstructive sleep apnea, a patient will undergo physical examination and polysomnography. If you think you might be suffering from sleep apnea you should see a doctor for sleep apnea.
Seeking treatment is very crucial for a patient diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. The temptation is great for a person with this problem to just ignore the disorder. Treatment could be inconvenient as it may entail wearing masks and dental appliances every night. Using a dental appliance for sleep apnea is uncomfortable at first but you can get used to it. A sleep apnea chin strap is slightly less uncomfortable, but is very unattractive. Surgical treatment is painful and is not guaranteed to be successful.For these discouraging reasons on surgery and personal appliances, only 10% of sleep apnea patients have been estimated to have undergone treatment.
Hence, it is important to educate the remaining 90% of those patients of the consequences of doing away with treatment of their problem. Putting themselves at risk is bad enough and what is worse is that they pose a risk to others when they are driving. Serious risks face the patient for non-treatment of the problem, including higher possibility of stroke, hypertension, heart attack, work productivity reduction, lowered attentiveness and at its extreme death.
Persons with obstructive sleep apnea should discuss treatment with their doctor right away. Aside from surgery, dental appliances and masks, there are more palatable options for treatment. An apnea patient may have the choice to undergo behavioral theraphy, or treatments involving airway pressure.
Some lifestyle changes of patients could also help in apnea treatment. These include refraining from taking alcoholic drinks or muscle relaxants, weight reduction and stopping smoking. Having the body at a 30-degree elevation while sleeping to prevent airway collapse due to gravity could also help in apnea treatment. The reduction in the gravitational cause of sleep apnea could also be achieved by sleeping on a sideways position.
There are several surgical procedures for those patients who elect surgery. These involve palate implants, nasal surgery, tongue reduction surgery, genioglossus advancement, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, bariatric surgery, tracheostomy, and maxi-mandibular advancement.
