Overview of Sleep Apnea: Symptoms, Risk Factors, and Treatments

It is estimated that between 12 and 20 million people in the United States suffer from sleep apnea, a condition that causes a person to stop breathing while asleep, sometimes up to hundreds of times nightly. This is a serious condition which can be progressive and can cause a number of health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, and hypertension. It has been known to cause sudden death. Sleep apnea can also affect the patient's memory, work productivity, and alertness in daily life. The decreased ability to focus due to fatigue can result in accidents, such as falling asleep while driving. This condition has also been linked to impotence and sexual dysfunction, which can have a negative impact on personal relationships.

There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central, and a mixture of the two. Obstructive sleep apnea, the most common form, occurs when the throat muscles relax and obstruct the airway. With central sleep apnea, the brain fails to send the signal to the muscles responsible for breathing to function.

Risk factors for sleep apnea include family history, oversized tonsils, and being overweight. Males are more likely to have sleep apnea, as are people over forty years of age. There are a variety of symptoms indicative of sleep apnea. Some of these are snoring, stopping breathing while sleeping, excessive fatigue during the day, and a pattern of waking up with a headache and dry mouth or sore throat. People will sleep apnea will also notice that they wake up suddenly feeling short of breath throughout the night.

Once a proper diagnosis of sleep apnea is made by a doctor, the patient can begin his or her prescribed treatment plan. Some patients notice a decrease in symptoms with lifestyle changes, such as losing weight or smoking cessation. For more serious cases, breathing therapy and/or surgery is used to treat sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is often treated with breathing machines. Continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, treats apnea through a machine which increases air pressure via a mask worn while sleeping. Another option is bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP). Sometimes oral appliances are used to position the jaw differently to relieve symptoms. Many patients see improvement through the use of CPAP or BiPAP, even though wearing a mask while sleeping can be uncomfortable or inconvenient. Surgery is also used to treat sleep apnea. Surgeries include repairing a deviated septum, removing nasal polyps, tongue reduction surgery, and removing oversized tonsils and adenoids.

Sources:
Mayo Clinic
Sleep Apnea and Impotence