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Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder characterised by recurring stoppages in breathing whilst asleep. It may be a few seconds or even a few minutes before a person begins breathing again, which causes major disturbances to a persons sleep. Every time a stoppage in breathing occurs, the brain is forced to wake a person from their valuable REM sleep to start them breathing again, resulting in a person having poor quality sleep.
There are two different kinds of sleep apnea, although in rarer cases people who suffer from both kinds are put in the category of Mixed Sleep Apnea (MSA). The two real categories are Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Central Sleep Apnea.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the most common form of sleep apnea, and is caused by obstruction(s) within the airways. As a person sleeps, they're body relaxes and the tissues and muscles of the throat as well as the tongue can often block the airways, effectively choking a person until they are forced out of REM sleep and begin breathing again.
Usually the obstructions are the tonsils and adenoids which can be surgically removed, but obstructions may also be inflammations, or fatty tissues within the airways, particularly if a person is obese. In rarer circumstances, bone structural issues such as naturally narrow airways are to blame, or even tumours or growths.
Obstructive sleep apnea treatment and methods of treatment depend upon the type of obstruction. There are many different kinds of treatment for this form of sleep apnea which some sufferers may find extremely effective. Some of these treatments and methods are:
• Lose weight: Although not all, many Obstructive Sleep Apnea sufferers are obese, and obesity not only affects a person externally, but also internally. Fat tissues within the airways cause the airways to narrow, making breathing more difficult. In losing weight, these tissues will reduce allowing a greater passage for air. Matters become complicated because person with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, due to metabolic slowdown, becomes more susceptible to putting on weight in the first place therefore a damaging cycle can begin.
• Quit smoking: Smoking doesn't benefit an individual's health in any way whatsoever, but by smoking you can cause inflammation within the airways, which in turn narrows the passage for air. Another effect of smoking is lung and circulatory damage, which means a persons ability to breathe and circulate oxygen is inhibited. It is highly important, especially in sleep apnea sufferers, that they get as much oxygen as they can, and by reducing your body's respiratory capabilities even further, health matters are made so much worse.
• Sleep on your side: If you sleep on your back and suffer from sleep apnea, you're symptoms may be made all the worse by the position you sleep. By lying on your back, not only does the neck become bent because of pillows which inhibits breathing somewhat, but also as the tongue relaxes, it can flop all the way back and cover the cover the airways. By sleeping on you side this is far less likely to happen and you may find your sleep apnea far less forthcoming.
• Avoid alcohol and sedatives: In people who suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, alcohol and sedatives can make sleeping well even more difficult. This is because by nature, alcohol and sedatives are relaxants/depressants. Their effect is to subdue the body and make it relax, and in sleep apnea sufferers, if the airways and tongue become too relaxed, it can cause blockages once more.
• Machines and Devices: Machines such as the CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) machine can be used during sleep where air pressure is used to keep a person's airways open allowing them to breathe obstruction free. This is considered one of the most effective treatments for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Devices such as ones which move the jaw into a forward position opening the airways may also be used, or ones which keep the tongue in place preventing it from flopping backwards. Oxygen administration is another treatment, although its role in the treatment of sleep apnea is dubious. All oxygen administration does is keep a persons oxygen levels up, it does nothing to aid a person to sleep naturally, nor to breath on their own uninhibited. Ask your G.P. for more information about the availability of these machines and devices.
Central Sleep Apnea is much less common than Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and is down to neurological issues and not obstructed airways. When a person breathes they do so because of automatic signals from the brain instructing the lungs to inhale and exhale. In a Central Sleep Apnea sufferer, whilst in REM sleep these signals from time to time aren't sent, therefore all effort to breathe ceases for a time, before the brain moves the person from REM sleep into a state of higher consciousness (they still may be asleep, technically), to start them breathing again.
Treatments for this type of sleep apnea are usually medications which encourage breathing, or the use of CPAP, which is also found to be effective in encouraging continuation in breathing in Central Sleep Apnea sufferers.
In the end, the form of treatment is down to the individual. Some treatments which may prove to be almost completely ineffective upon one person, may work very well on another. Whilst treatments which some couldn't imagine their lives without, may, for various reasons, be a burden upon another. The most important thing is finding the right sleep apnea treatment for yourself, and if a treatment isn't working as well as you think it ought to be, don't be afraid to talk to your G.P. about trying alternatives. |
