The Sleep apnea is a disorder related to rest whose main symptom is interruption in breathing or the appearance of periods in which it is very superficial while the person is sleeping. Each pause can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, and they occur frequently during the night.
Because sleep apnea causes a person not to rest well while sleeping, those affected will usually feel very fatigued during the day even if they have been in bed for a long time. It is a syndrome that affects all aspects of the individual's life, and can greatly interfere with their routine.
There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed. Obstructive is the most common of all, and is usually caused by factors such as obesity, allergies, the presence of a deviated nasal septum, or other similar problems. The central, on the other hand, occurs due to a lack of effort of the person to breathe.
One of the most common problems with this condition is that people who suffer from it usually do not realize what is happening to them. Fortunately, if it is detected, there are many methods to treat it or alleviate the symptoms; but if it is not solved, it can increase the risk of conditions such as diabetes or heart attacks.
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In this section we will discuss both the actual symptoms of sleep apnea, as well as the signs that may indicate the presence of this disorder. Being on the lookout for them is often the only way we can detect it.
The main symptom of sleep apnea is the stoppage of breathing while the person sleeps for periods of up to several minutes, which occur frequently throughout the night. Sometimes, instead of coming to a complete stop, the airflow will just get shallower.
Often, when normal breathing resumes, the person will snore loudly and in a ragged manner. It may also produce other sounds, such as wheezing or coughing.
In any case, this cycle will repeat itself for as long as the individual is asleep, preventing them from resting properly..
Although it does not happen in all cases, on many occasions people with sleep apnea wake up every time their breathing stops. However, they are rarely aware of why this is happening to them, and may only realize that they have a hard time sleeping at once..
Due to this symptom, those affected will often go to the bathroom many times at night, reduce the number of hours they normally rest, or believe that they have developed insomnia. However, all of these problems are related to their inability to breathe properly while they sleep..
Another of the most common symptoms caused by apnea is the presence of fatigue and drowsiness in the person throughout the day, no matter how many hours they sleep..
This is because, by constantly stopping their breathing, the affected individual cannot correctly reach the deepest phases of sleep..
This problem can cause a lot of confusion in affected people, who generally do not understand why they are so tired.
Additionally, generalized fatigue affects many other areas of your life, and is the main cause of most of the other symptoms associated with sleep apnea..
When chronic tiredness becomes especially severe, it can end up causing worrisome problems such as traffic accidents or increased risks in the workplace..
Due to the lack of rest caused by the disorder, people with sleep apnea often show problems in different aspects related to mental capacity.
Some of the areas that are most often affected are memory, concentration, attention, or the ability to plan or think about the future.
If sleep apnea persists for a long time, these problems can become quite serious, making it difficult for the person to develop their daily life in a normal way..
Lack of adequate rest can also severely affect the emotions of those affected. Often these will present sudden mood swings, a melancholic mood, or greater irritability than usual..
If apnea is not treated, these symptoms could lead to a true mood disorder, such as depression, generalized anxiety or other similar syndromes.
Sleep apnea can be caused by many factors, which vary depending on whether it is the obstructive, central, or mixed version. In this part of the article we will see what are the main causes that cause each of the variations of this disorder.
This form of apnea is the most common of all. The stop of breathing occurs due to an obstruction of some of the channels through which the air passes, such as the throat, nostrils or trachea.
There are several different causes why this can occur, the most frequent of which we will describe below..
The most common reason for sleep apnea is excess weight, which causes the tissues of the mouth and throat to become flexible and flabby.
When the person is sleeping, because the muscles relax, these tissues "sag" and can cause the throat to become blocked..
This cause is especially common among adults with this problem, although more and more children end up developing apnea for the same reason..
Another of the most common causes of obstructive apnea is the presence of some organs or parts of the body with a different shape than usual that can obstruct the airways at night. In children, for example, it is common for this problem to occur due to a widening of the tonsils.
Other parts of the body that can end up producing sleep apnea are the teeth (in the case of an extreme overbite) or the adenoids, organs located at the back of the nostrils. The problem could also be caused by a deviation of the nasal septum.
Finally, in a small part of the cases, sleep apnea could be produced due to the presence of a tumor in some area of the airways. However, this reason is one of the least frequent.
Some genetic problems, such as Down syndrome or Pierre-Robin syndrome, can have the appearance of sleep apnea as a side effect..
In the case of people with Down syndrome, they usually have a larger than usual tongue, tonsils and adenoids, in addition to low muscle tone in the mouth.
On the other hand, individuals with Pierre-Robin syndrome have a lower jaw that is smaller than usual, and their tongue tends to curl in on itself at the back of the throat. Both factors can cause the appearance of sleep apnea.
Central sleep apnea occurs for causes very different from what we have seen so far. In the cases in which it occurs, the shortness of breath is not caused by an obstruction of the airways; on the contrary, the brain simply does not send the necessary command to carry out this process correctly.
Central apnea is generally associated with extremely serious diseases, especially those that affect areas of the brain such as the medulla oblongata. However, at least one form of this disorder is known to appear alone and without being accompanied by any other symptoms..
Some of the factors that can cause the appearance of central apnea are Alzheimer's, having suffered a stroke or a heart attack, or the presence of a tumor in some areas of the brain.
Shortness of breath during sleep caused by both physical and neurological factors is known as mixed apnea. The causes, therefore, are a mixture of those of the two previous versions of the disease, and will vary from case to case..
There are a multitude of treatments and techniques that can be used to alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnea; and even, in some cases, make them disappear completely.
The choice of one method or another will be conditioned by the specific causes of the disease in a patient, their lifestyle and their preferences.
In the event that the apnea is obstructive and is a condition of medium or high severity, the most common treatment is the use of an air mask during sleep hours..
Through the very pressure of the air they release, these devices are able to keep the patient's airways open while they sleep.
This solution is extremely effective in alleviating the symptoms of most sleep apneas; however, sleeping in a mask can be uncomfortable, and many patients end up abandoning treatment after a while.
In less severe cases of sleep apnea, or in those that are caused mainly by factors that the patient can control, it may be enough for him to make some changes in his lifestyle.
Some of these changes can be as simple as avoiding caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol, or changing your sleeping posture to open your airways as much as possible..
Others require a bit more effort, such as weight loss in cases where apnea occurs due to an obesity problem.
Apart from this, it can also be helpful for people with this disorder to follow an exercise routine and try to always sleep at the same times. However, these solutions will not be effective in all cases..
As a last resort in cases of airway obstruction, the patient may consider the option of undergoing surgery to clear them..
The options are multiple, and can range from correcting the deviation of the nasal septum to reconstruction of the palate so that it stops sagging while the person sleeps..
When sleep apnea occurs due to a failure of the brain regions related to breathing, opening the airways will not be effective in alleviating symptoms.
In these cases, there are several options to end the problem. The first of these is the use of small electric shocks to stimulate the diaphragm, forcing the person to breathe. This treatment is still in the testing phase, but it has been shown to be quite effective in treating central apnea..
On the other hand, it is also possible to use certain types of medication to decrease the severity of symptoms. Some of those that have been shown to be most effective are acetazolamide, zolpidem, and triazolam..
If the symptoms of sleep apnea are not treated, the person who suffers from it can end up developing all kinds of complications. The most common are severe chronic fatigue and decreased cognitive abilities, but these are not the only risks present.
For example, several long-term studies seem to indicate that sleep apnea is related to more serious problems such as diabetes, increased blood pressure, Alzheimer's, or the likelihood of serious problems such as heart attacks or cancer.
Due to this, if you think that you may have sleep apnea or that someone in your environment suffers from it, it is essential that you speak with a doctor so that they can help you solve the problem.
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