Sleep apnea, also called obstructive sleepapnea, is a medical condition that many people live with.
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What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a disorder in which the airway becomes obstructed, or narrowed, while you are sleeping.
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The narrowing of the airway then leads to impaired breathing while sleeping.
The lack of air entering the lungs causeshypoxia(decreased oxygen level in the blood).
This then disrupts the sleep cycle, and someone with sleep apnea may then wake up.
This cycle continues over and over as someone is sleeping, up to dozens of times each hour.
Disrupted sleep due to apnea may produce a variety of symptoms.
Ignoring symptoms of an underlying disorder could leave more time for complications to develop.
Causes
When someone with sleep apnea is sleeping, their airway becomes blocked.
However, sleep apnea is linked to weight gain, which can make losing weight difficult.
Weight Gain
Studies have demonstrated how the shortened sleep cycles experienced with sleep apnea can cause obesity.
A hormone calledleptinis stored in fat cells in the body.
Sometimes the brain becomes desensitized to the action of leptin, and signals do not get across.
This then causes inflammation to occur, which can lead to weight gain.
This can be a difficult cycle to break.
Another hormone,gherlin, stimulates appetite.
This hormone is released from the stomach to tell the brain it is hungry.
Losing weight can be attempted through dietary changes, increased exercise, or medications.
Weight loss surgery has also been used to help people with sleep apnea lose weight.
Regular use of a CPAP may be helpful in losing weight.
Risk Factors
Many factors can contribute to sleep apnea.
The provider will perform a physical examination and will assess your sleep apnea symptoms.
They may refer you to a sleep specialist, who can perform a sleep study to evaluate you.
Sleep studiescan be done in a specialized sleep lab, or may be done at home.
During a sleep study, heart rate and rhythm and oxygen levels are monitored during sleep.
There is also an evaluation of how many times apnea episodes occur.
If you have mild sleep apnea, you will have four to 15 episodes of apnea in an hour.
If you have moderate sleep apnea, you’ll experience 15 to 29 apnea events per hour.
And if you have 30 or more apnea episodes per hour, your sleep apnea is severe.
Things such as limiting calories, drinking fewer alcoholic beverages, and not smoking can reduce sleep apnea symptoms.
Sleep Apnea and Fatigue
The cycle of sleep apnea and fatigue can be difficult to break.
If sleep apnea is untreated, the person living with it may feel extremely tired during daytime hours.
They may have little energy to do their routine activities and even less energy to exercise.
Exercise often is an important part of maintaining a healthy weight while having sleep apnea.
Machines and Devices
A CPAP machine can be prescribed to someone with sleep apnea.
There is also an implantable gadget that monitors breathing patterns while someone is sleeping.
Other procedures can include surgery to reposition either the upper or lower jaw.
Zepbound is the first and only Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medication to treat OSA.
This leads to decreased respiratory cycles while sleeping, including periods of not breathing.
A Word From Verywell
Sleep apnea is a condition that can lead to serious problems.
It is important to get your symptoms evaluated by a healthcare provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sleep apnea is a treatable disorder.
However, for many people, it may require treatment for a longer period of time.
Someone with sleep apnea can snore very loudly, and very often.
They may also sound like they are gasping for air while they are asleep.
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