Why Specialized Care For Sleep Apnea Is Important

Many people are not aware of the fact that they may completely stop breathing for a few seconds while they are still sleeping. Sometimes, these episodes consist of marked reductions in airflow, brief pauses in breathing that may last at least ten seconds, or complete stops in breathing for short periods. This condition is better known as sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that is common among adults and frequently results in a significant reduction in blood oxygenation.

Sleep apnea can be more or less severe, depending on the patient, and it can be a very serious condition. In the worst cases, sleep apnea left untreated can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and even a stroke. If you have any signs of sleep apnea, it's clear that you'll want to get it treated as soon as possible. Although sleep apnea has many different treatment options, research suggests that patients who receive specialized care benefit the most.

What exactly is specialized care for sleep apnea and how can it help you?

Specialized Care for Sleep Apnea

Affected individuals are often not aware of their condition, but their bed partner, spouse or room mates may notice that they snore loudly, stop breathing for short periods, gasp for air, suddenly wake up and fall back to sleep. Symptoms that may provide clues to sleep apnea include daytime sleepiness, restlessness, fatigue, headaches, poor memory, and waking up with a dry throat.

It is important for people with sleep apnea to be diagnosed and treated properly to avoid its complications. These include heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and even death. Excessive daytime sleepiness can also put their life in danger because of their increased risk for accidents at work or while driving.

While many people are unaware or take their condition for granted, some people take steps to receive treatments for sleep apnea to improve their health. There are many ways to treat airway obstruction, including medical and surgical options, but studies show that receiving specialized care from board-certified physicians and accredited centers for treatment of sleep apnea is associated with better outcomes.

Many experts believe that the most effective therapy for sleep apnea is using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), in which the patients wears a mask over his nose/mouth while he sleeps. This mask is connected to a special machine that delivers air into the nose and keeps the upper airways open and makes breathing more regular.

What Happens When You Have Sleep Apnea?

A person who suffers from sleep apnea has frequent episodes of breathing stops while he sleeps, which can occur at least once in every four minutes. Sometimes his breathing stops completely for a few seconds, which can disturb his sleep and awaken him or cause his sleep level to become shallow. There are times when his breathing can be significantly reduced to about 25% of a normal breath. These episodes may also be combined with just slight reductions in breathing (called hypopnea), which can still lead to sleep disruption.

See Also: Sleep Apnea: Unable To Fall A Sleep

In most people, sleep apnea is caused by an anatomical obstruction in the airway, which may be due to a deviated nasal septum (the part of the nose that separates the nostrils), a large tongue that falls at the back of the throat when asleep, or other abnormalities. These structural abnormalities cause the upper airways to collapse, which makes it difficult for the individual to breathe while in deep sleep. The drop in oxygen level signals the brain to rouse the individual from sleep, so he can breathe more effectively. This is the obstructive type of sleep apnea, which is common among obese people and snorers, who often do not recall waking up at night, but may complain of not getting a good night's sleep. Men are more likely to be affected.

Other Treatments For Sleep Apnea

Although the CPAP is the most effective treatment for severe cases of sleep apnea, it has its disadvantages, too. People have to get used to sleeping with a mask on every night to benefit from it. They must also make sure that the mask fits and the machine is working properly. On the other hand, people who have mild to moderate sleep apnea often have more difficulty using the CPAP and most of them do not use it for more than four hours a night. In fact, 25-50 percent of patients who start using the machine eventually stop using it. Therefore patients and doctors may try to look for other options to treat the condition.

Depending on the cause and severity of sleep apnea, doctors may recommend other forms of treatments. These include:

Surgery. Surgical correction of an anatomical abnormality that leads to airway obstruction is the easiest way to treat sleep apnea. This can involve surgery on the nasal airway, placing palatal implants, tongue reduction or other produres on other parts of the upper airways. These may be combined with bariatric surgery, a weight-loss surgery that reduces one's risk of sleep apnea associated with obesity.

Although surgery is often effective, it is not without risks. Bleeding, pain, infection, scarring, and other complications may occur. In some cases, surgery does not cure sleep apnea, and the use of CPAP turns out to be helpful.

Non-surgical options. For patients who have mild to moderate sleep apnea associated with obesity, doctors advise losing weight, which has been shown to significantly improve the condition by about 25 percent. Behavioral changes, including eating a healthy diet, exercising, practicing sleep hygiene habits, and improving one's sleeping position also help prevent apnea during sleep.

Dental appliances are portable mouthpieces that hold the jaw, tongue and palate in proper position that prevents airway closure and control apnea. These are reportedly 75% effective for patients who have mild to moderate airway obstruction.

Certain medications can help reduce nasal swelling, such as topical nasal decongestants (oxymetazoline, neosynephrine) and nasal steroid sprays. However, these medications must not be used continuously because of potential side effects. Other medications to improve health conditions related to sleep apnea may also be recommended, such as anti-obesity drugs, thyroid hormone replacement (for patients with under-functioning thyroid glands), and antibiotics (for sinusitis).

Importance of Treating Sleep Apnea

Combination of treatments may be used, because in many cases, people are not comfortable adhering to treatments that require continuous use, such as dental appliances or CPAP. However, it is important to emphasize, as studies have shown, that sleep apnea increases one's risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and worse, heart attack or sudden death. Serious disturbances in sleep can also increase daytime sleepiness, which may lead to reduced work productivity, road accidents, or other safety hazards at work.

It is also important to note that although there may be a lot of people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, only a few of these are receiving proper treatment. Others have not been identified, while some refuse treatment and take their condition for granted. Spouses, partners, families or friends of people who are aware of their snoring problems, sleep disturbances, or excessive daytime sleepiness must help them get treatment for sleep apnea because of its potential complications.

See Also: Sleep apnea

Studies show that patients who receive specialized care from doctors who are trained and certified to treat sleep apnea obtain the best results. This is especially important for patients suffering from severe apnea during sleep.