Sleep Apnoea

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, (OSA), occurs during sleep and is caused by temporary failure of muscles in the upper airway leading to obstruction as the airway temporarily collapses. This causes short periods during which the sufferer is no longer breathing but is only of serious concern if the bouts last in excess of 10 seconds and occur more than 10 times in any hour. The reason the bouts last for just a short period is down to to the sleeper’s brain, which wakes him or her up automatically, usually accompanied by a loud snort or snore, and then normal breathing is resumed.

For anyone with OSA, these bouts of snoring occur many times every night and can severely affect both the quality and amount of their sleep.

Do I Have OSA?

Not surprisingly, it is often the sufferer’s sleeping partner who first becomes aware the symptoms because they are frequently woken by the loud snoring.

The most common symptoms recorded by OSA patients include:
Feeling sleepy, irritable and short tempered during the day.
Feeling anxious and/or depressed (usually long term sufferers if undiagnosed).
Unexplained mood swings and/or changes in behaviour.
Waking with a headache.
Exessively loud and severe snoring, often with pauses or gasps in breathing.
Reduced sex drive.

Having one or more of the above symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean that you have OSA, eveyone suffers from some of them from time to time but,if you suffer from most of them for a long period, you may well have sleep apnoea.

How is OSA diagnosed?

As with most medical conditions, symptoms can range from mild to severe. Diagnosis of the condition is usually via a sleep study conducted by a specialist in a hospital sleep laboratory, where equipment monitors various physiological functions while the patient sleeps. Analysis of the results helps the specialist decide the most appropriate course of treatment.

The severity of OSA is calculated by the number of apnoeic and hypopneic bouts per hour of sleep (hypoponea is a reduction in the airflow, rather than a complete obstruction) and, if required, treatment and further study are undertaken.

This investigation procedure, called polysomnography, includes observation of brain waves, airway muscle tone, airflow in the mouth and nose, heart rate and blood oxygen levels.

Recently more home sleep studies have been introduced because they more reliably replicate a ‘normal’ nights sleep, the patient being in a familiar environment and a comfortable bed.

OSA Treatment

Treatment depends on the severity of the condition. In milder cases mandibular advancement devices (MAD) are used together with a proramme of weight loss, which together are often very successful. For more severe cases, CPAP technology is added (CPAP means continuous positive airway pressure) whereby machines deliver a continuous stream of air through a mask worn over the patient’s nose to keep the airway permanently open.

By: Oisin Bried

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