Has your bed partner ever complained of not sleeping well due to your “loud snoring with bouts of choking sensation” but when you eventually wake up the next day, you still experience daytime fatigue?
This is a very common, but little understood and undiagnosed, medical condition that is quite prevalent in the country. Known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), it can cause detrimental consequences to our health and well-being.
The reason is because OSA is mostly associated with cardiovascular diseases such as uncontrolled hypertension, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation, and metabolic diseases like diabetes.
The worst part is that the association is bidirectional, meaning OSA is not just a symptom of these medical conditions but if left untreated, it can lead to these conditions.
So what exactly is OSA? Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a disorder that involves cessation or significant decrease in airflow in the presence of breathing effort, characterized by recurrent episodes of upper airway collapse during sleep.
How can you tell if you have OSA, and you experience all the risks associated with it? There are symptoms that you, or your bed partner, can observe that would help you decide if you need to see a doctor.
There are also categorical conditions you may have that would put you at risk. Obesity is a major risk factor; you are more likely to experience OSA than if you are at a healthy weight range.
Gender also comes into play as men are more prone to develop OSA. After menopause the odds of women getting the condition is equal that of men of similar age.
Age is also a factor since the above-40 age group is at most risk, although it is not unlikely for teens to have OSA.
Race, however, is not a significant risk factor, studies conducted globally show that all races have almost similar prevalence of the condition.
Easily observable symptoms of OSA include snoring, and apnea or when one stops breathing during sleep.
An observer can notice it as more than a 10-second pause or silence in between regular bouts of rhythmic snoring.
This may or may not be followed by superimposed arousals, which is the tendency of the patient to wake up with choking sensation or gasping for air.
This happens because of these apneas that cause inefficient sleep due to the lack of oxygen getting into the brain and other parts of the body.
Apnea is the result of airway collapse due to fat deposition around the neck brought about by obesity, enlarged tonsils, pulmonary congestion, or pooling of more fluids than normal in the neck vessels because of a failing heart.
Inefficient sleep could lead to excessive daytime sleepiness and lethargy. Excessive sleepiness means a person would fall asleep quickly even if the timing were inappropriate, like during lectures, while working, or even while driving.
Other observable behavioral symptoms include irritability, depression, and mood swings.
So if you are a fat, grumpy, old bipolar sleepy-head, and do not know why you are in the dumps and cannot seem to get out of it, it is time to see a sleep medicine doctor.
The best way to diagnose OSA is through overnight sleep study. This is a definitive test to determine sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. It involves a video camera which documents the whole sleep in one night, and records your brainwave activities, oxygen level in your blood, heart rate, breathing patterns, as well as eye and leg movements.
It will be an overnight stay in a sleep center or a sleep disorders unit within the hospital designed just like you are sleeping in a hotel room.
So now that you were diagnosed with OSA, what’s next?
Relax, it is not a death sentence; there is actually a device known as a continuous positive airway pressure that will keep the collapsed airway patent during sleep so you will have adequate oxygenation the whole night with increased sleep efficiency.
CPAP, a non-invasive machine that will be used during sleep, is the most recommended treatment for OSA, and has been proven by several research studies here and abroad that could lessen the number of apneas during sleep. This device significantly decreases daytime sleepiness, stops snoring, lessens heart issues which includes the lowering of the blood pressure, and you would be less likely to have heart failure.
There are more benefits from CPAP that will later improve the quality of life.
These portable machines are used with a facemask and hoses that you can always dream, you are some fighter pilot or astronaut on a mission to save the universe.
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Dr. Karen Sobere Yu specializes in Internal Medicine – Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. She holds clinics at the SU Medical Center from Monday to Saturday; and at Holy Child Hospital on Tuesday and Friday. She attends to Sleep Disorder cases on Thursday afternoons (by appointment only).
Author’s email: k_sobere_yu@yahoo.com
