Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Facts more or less … sleep apnea

Effects of Breathing Changes During Sleep


Breathing is such an automatic function that we often cart it for granted. in certainty, our breathing pattern change frequently throughout the day and dark according to our body's needs, including during sleep. These pure changes can become disrupted within some individuals, causing them to breathe oddly during sleep. This can in turn alter the body's functions, and disturb the normal stages of sleep, resulting in the tolerant awakening tired and being sleepy during the light of day. Several kinds of breathing disorders during sleep enjoy been identified.


Sleep Apnea


The word "apnea" resources die absence of breathing. During sleep, our breathing change with the stage/depth of sleep. Some individuals stop breathing for brief intervals, as habitually as several times per hour. This can be normal. However, when these episodes of apnea become more frequent and closing longer, they can cause the body's oxygen rank to decrease, which can disrupt sleep. The merciful may not fully awaken, but is aroused from die deep restful stages of sleep, and thus feel tired the next time.


As sleep is disrupted night after dark, the patient can develop progressive daytime sleepiness that lead to irritability, memory lapses, inattention and sense of self changes. These change can sometimes result in poor actions at work/school. Everyone has experienced the sluggish premonition the day following a darkness of poor sleep. It is easy to get the message how multiple nights of in short supply amounts of restful sleep can affect ones daytime performance.


In rider to causing daytime problems, the episodes of apnea during sleep can basis various organ systems to function extraordinarily. For example, the decrease surrounded by oxygen that is associated near each episode of apnea can alter the function of the heart. It can increase the work the heart have to do. Some scientists feel it may also contribute to big blood pressure and the risk for stroke. In severe cases, it can even be life-threatening by causing severe disturbances within die heart rhythm.


Obstructive Sleep Apnea


There are two main types of sleep apnea. The most adjectives type is called obstructive sleep apnea, during which breathing is blocked by a interim obstruction of the leading airway, usually in the posterior of the throat. This often occur because the tongue and throat muscles relax, causing the primary airway to close. The muscles of die chest and diaphragm continue to formulate breathing efforts, but the log jam prevents any airflow. After a short interval lasting second to minutes, the oxygen level drops, cause breathing efforts to become more enthusiastic, which eventually opens the obstacle and allows airflow to resume. This often occur with a loud snort and jerk of the body, causing the lenient to arouse from deep sleep. After a few breaths, the oxygen stratum returns to normal, the forgiving falls back to sleep, the muscles of the prime airway relax, and die obstruction occur again. This cycle is then repeated over and over during spot on stages of sleep.


Most people next to obstructive sleep apnea are snorers, suggesting that their main airway is already incompletely obstructed during sleep, but not all snorers enjoy obstructive sleep apnea. A characteristic sequence of sleep apnea occur when the patient is noted to stop snoring briefly during sleep, after resumes snoring with a loud snort and/or jerk of die arms, legs, or whole body.


Central Sleep Apnea


A smaller quantity common form of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea, so named because the centralized control of breathing is abnormal. This control center lies contained by the brain, and its function can be disrupted by a variety of factor. There is no obstruction to airflow. The forgiving with sleep apnea stops breathing because the brain suddenly fad to signal the muscles of the chest and diaphragm to keep breathing. These patients do not resume breathing beside a snort and body jerk, but merely start and stop breathing at a mixture of intervals. Although the mechanism is different than obstructive sleep apnea, sleep is still disturbed by the interrupted decreases contained by oxygen, and the patients suffer from the sane daytime symptoms. Some patients may suffer from a combination of the two causes of apnea, a disorder which is call mixed-sleep apnea.


Diagnosis


Sleep apnea should be suspected in individuals who are noted to own excessive daytime sleepiness and other symptoms described above, especially if they are known to snore and own a restless sleep. Commonly, these patients have be loud snorers for many years, more regularly are male, and file that the daytime sleepiness has become a progressive problem over plentiful months. This might first be noted by their falling asleep when not being actively stimulated, such as when watching TV, attending a lecture/movie/theater, or reading. As the daytime sleepiness progresses, this individual may own trouble staying awake while driving a car, may nose-dive asleep at important meeting or at unusual times, such as during eating or within the middle of a conversation. Less commonly, they may be bothered by bedwetting or impotence.


The sleep problems are often aggravated by alcohol or anaesthetic medications. They are also more readily notice by the patients family and friends, especially die bed partner.


Once die suspicion of sleep apnea is aroused, the long-suffering's breathing pattern during sleep can be evaluated at a Sleep Disorders Center. The forgiving sleeps in a bedroom laboratory while attached to assorted skin sensors which monitor many physiological variables. These might include brain electrical buzz, nose/mouth airflow, breathing pattern, heart rhythms, oxygen smooth and muscle activity. A trained technologist monitors these measurements and the patients sleep conduct continuously. The results are then evaluated by a physician specially trained in sleep disorders.


Treatment


The treatment of sleep apnea depends upon the inflict and severity that is revealed by the adjectives night sleep study (polysomnogram). In mild sleep apnea, breathing during sleep can sometimes be enhanced by developing better sleep habits, and avoiding alcohol and sedative near bedtime. Weight loss can be accommodating in obese individuals and varying body position during sleep helps surrounded by others. Medications can also be used to alter the stages of sleep, suppressing that sleep stage during which the abnormal breathing occur. Correcting abnormalities of the antenna and upper airways, e.g. septal deviation, may also be helpful.


In more severe cases of obstructive sleep apnea, die jam can sometimes be prevented by blowing air into the subsidise of the throat during sleep. The patient wear a mask over the feeler, the mask contained by turn being attached to a special fan/blower. This creates a continuous pressure of nouns in the throat which prevents the obstacle from occurring. It is called Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).


In unshakable individuals, the airway obstruction is cause by tonsils, or other structures in the throat which can be treated by corrective surgery. Another surgical treatment is to bypass the throat let by creating an opening surrounded by the main windpipe (trachea) in the nouns. The tube is closed during the day to allow the tolerant to breathe in the usual style, but is then open during sleep to bypass the obstruction that occur. This is used only once in a blue moon, for the most severe forms of the disease. The success of respectively treatment depends upon the cause and severity of the sleep apnea, and requires meticulous study in a Sleep Disorders Center.


Summary


Breathing disorders during sleep can be a serious problem foremost to impaired sleep and abundant daytime problems. Careful evaluation can often result surrounded by satisfying nouns. More information can be obtained by contacting your local American Lung Association.


Note: The American Lung Association neither recommend nor endorses any specific treatment, physician, or facility in the nurture of sleep apnea patients. Sleep disorders should be diagnosed by a physician. This brochure highlights some common sleep disorders, but does not record all diagnoses.

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