Obstructive sleep apnea OSA is a sleeping disorder in which the regular air-flow stops for few seconds while the person is asleep. It is often caused due to narrow airway or block in the path of airway. A pause while breathing is known as one apnea episode. Reduction of airflow while sleeping is called hypopnea episode. This is not like a routine break or pause that occurs for almost everyone while asleep, but is a serious disorder breathing episodes are disrupted while sleeping. Visible symptom of sleep apnea is the loud snoring. The throat muscles of the person relax continuously thus blocking the path of airway while sleeping. It occurs commonly in middle aged and old age people who are overweight. Obstructive sleep apnea can be treated using sleep device or by surgery of nose or throat to clear the blockage in the muscles.
Symptoms
Obviously the first symptom of obstructive sleep apnea is snoring. The affected person will snore loudly as soon as he falls asleep. There will be pause or break in the breathing session while sleeping. It can cause daytime sleepiness in such persons and many people will have morning headache. The person may awake abruptly due to shortness of breath or chest pain while staying asleep. He may develop irritation, depression and hypertension and poor concentration during daytime.
The affected person will not be aware of the pause in his sleeping sessions. Only his partner or other family members should observe and report to family GP. Once the snoring gets louder it is interrupted by silent period for few seconds followed by loud gasp for breathe. The snoring process will continue and the cycle repeats several times during sleep.
When To Consult Your Doctor?
If any of your family members are snoring loudly with intermittent pauses during sleep with excessive daytime drowsiness then it is time to consult your doctor. Not everyone who snores will have obstructive sleep apnea. Only if the snoring episodes have brief lapse of breathing it is indicative of OSA.
Causes
The main cause for obstructive sleep apnea is the continuous relaxation of the throat muscles that blocks normal breathing pattern. The throat muscles include muscles of soft palate, uvula, tongue and the tonsils. When the muscles relax when you start sleeping, it narrows down the airway path so that breathing can become insufficient for 10-20 seconds. This in turn lowers the oxygen level in your blood. Your brain senses this problem and briefly arouses you so that you can re-open the blocked airway. You will awaken with shortness of breath making a gasping or choking sound.