Sleep Apnea

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is the term used to describe the process that occurs when a person is sleeping, and there is an interruption of airflow into their lungs (aka Obstructive Sleep Apnea).

How Does OSA Occur?

OSA will only occur as a person is sleeping, because the airways muscles can relax, where as, when we are awake, their will be sufficient muscle to allow for continued normal breathing.

When sleep apnea occurs, your brain will cause a reaction so you wake up (often in the form of a loud snore or snort). Normal breathing will commence until it happens again.

OSA sufferers will quite often wake up many times during the night and can feel very tired the following day.

Am I Suffering From Sleep Apnea?

Common symptoms of sleep apnea is being very tired at daytime (but there could be other reasons why this is too). Diagnosing sleep apnea is not that simple unfortunately.

Most other symptoms may generally be picked up by your partner, family and friends first – Including:

Please note that the above symptoms can still be experienced by people who do not suffer from sleep apnea to. But OSA suffers may experience multiple of the above symptoms and can even have them all.

The biggest symptom to really check out for is any loud and excessive snoring that has constant gasps and pauses.

How Is OSA Diagnosed?

An Apnoea/Hypopnoea index has been developed to identify how severe a persons case is. It is used to monitor how many Apnoeas (suspension of external breathing) and Hypopnoeas (slow breathing or abnormal breathing) occur per hour during sleep.

If the score is less than 10 on the index, it is unlikely to be diagnosed as a clinical problem.