Loud snoring may be a signal that something is seriously wrong with breathing during sleep. Snoring indicates that the airway is not fully open, and the noise of snoring comes from efforts to force air through the narrowed passages. An estimated 10-30% of adults snore, and for the most part, snoring has no serious medical consequences when it is of the mild variety. An estimated five in 100 people--typically, overweight, middle-age men--extremely loud habitual snoring is the first indication of a potentially life-threatening disorder: obstructive sleep apnea. Apnea is a Greek word meaning “want of breath.”

People with sleep apnea don’t breathe properly during sleep and as a result, don’t get enough oxygen and have frequent arousals causing poor quality sleep.Sleep apnea contributes to to excessive daytime sleepiness and may trigger high blood pressure, heart failure, heart attack and stroke. Snoring loudly, every night, in all positions warrants a visit to a healthcare provider, who may suggest a series of studies at a sleep disorders center is medically appropriate. Proper treatment can prevent and reverse the potentially life-threatening consequences of sleep apnea.

Warning Symptoms

The snoring is so loud it can be heard rooms away, or even by neighbors.

A particular pattern of snorring interrupted by pauses, followed by gasps, is a sign that the sleeper intermittantly halts breathing.

Some people repeatedly stop breathing while sleeping. Such disturbed sleep can produce profound daytime sleepiness that often disrupts work and personal life. People with apnea fall asleep at inappropriate times such as at work or while driving a vehicle. Recent studies showed that people suffering from sleep apnea were two to five times more likely to have a car accident than those who do not suffer from this disorder.Trouble concentrating, unusual forgetfulness, irritability, anxiety , or depression can be symptoms resulting from sleep apnea. These problems may appear suddenly or may emerge over many years. The person may not notice these symptoms or may minimize their severity. Often family members, employers, or co-workers first recognize a pattern of changes in mood or behavior and encourage a visit to a healthcare provider.

Sometimes the individual seeks help for trouble sleeping. People with sleep apnea may notice that they are awakening frequently, gasping for air, and thrashing about in their sleep. They may complain of morning headaches, sore throats, and even a loss of interest in sex.. Men may complain of erectile dysfunction.

WHAT CAUSES SLEEP APNEA?

Muscles relax more during sleep than they do during waking hours, including the muscles that are necessary for opening the upper breathing passage. In most people , this normal process doesn’t cause problems. However, for stll unknown reasons, some people’s throat muscles relax too much. This relaxation compromises breathing and makes sleep a risky activity.

In other people , the muscles relax to a normal degree during sleep but because the throat passage is narrower than normal, closure occurs.

In some cases the problem lies in the part of the brain that controls breathing during sleep. The brain appears to forget to send out the necessary signal to the muscles that control breathing.

TYPES OF SLEEP APNEA

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)- most common and severe form, also called upper airway apnea. The muscle of the soft palate located at the base of the tongue and uvula (the fleshy tissue that hangs from the center of the soft palate), relax and sag, obstructing the airway, making breathing labored and noisy. Collapse of the airway walls blocks breathing entirely. When breathing periodically stops, a listener hears the snoring broken by pauses. As pressure to breathe builds, muscles of the diaphragm and chest work harder.

Sleep is then temporarily interrupted. This interruption activates the throat muscles and“uncorks” the airway. The effort to breath is similar to slurping a drink through a floppy wet straw. A listener hears deep gasps as breathing starts and each gasp awakens the sleeper. Awakenings are generally so brief and incomplete that the sleeper does not remember them in the morning. Someone with sleep apnea may stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer, dozens and even hundreds of times each night.

Each time breathing stops, the level of oxygen in the bloodstream falls and the heart must work harder to circulate blood. Blood pressure rises and may stay elevated after breathing restarts. The heart sometimes beats irregularly and may even pause for several seconds. These irregularities of the heart may account for some deaths during sleep of people who went to bed in apparent good health. Alcohol, sleeping pills, and tranquilizers taken at bedtime further reduce muscle tone and may make the airway more susceptible to collapse.

While most people with obstructive sleep apnea have no obvious physical abnormality that interferes with their breathing during sleep. For example, some people have a smaller-than-normal jaw, large tongue, enlarged tonsils, or tissues that block the entrance to the airway. Several of these conditions may exist in the same person. Obstructive sleep apnea primarily strikes overweight men. Female hormones and a different throat anatomy may protect women until menopause. In later years, the gap between the sexes narrows so that ladies snore and may also develop sleep apnea.

Central Sleep Apnea

In this form of apnea, the airway may stay open, but the diaphragm and chest muscles stop working causing wanting of breathing. Falling levels of oxygen signal the brain causing the sleeper to awaken and resume breathing. Central apnea becomes more common as people grow older, and perhaps one in four people age 60 or older experience disturbed breathing during sleep. For most the problem is mild. It becomes more frequent and severe in people who have congestive heart failure or neurologic disorders. People with central apnea may be more aware of frequent awakenings than individuals with obstructive apnea.

Mixed Apnea

This is a condition where the respiratory events are a combination of obstuctive and central events.

*Information taken from ASDA patient info brochure.