Sleep Apnea is a disorder characterized by a break of airflow or a pause in the breathing pattern when one is deep asleep. Apnea, in other words, is the time period when a person's breathing effectively stops or is at the very least markedly reduced. People suffering from apnea experience disrupted sleep with intermittent periods when a person may be partially or completely awake. Prolonged apnea is a condition that can severely effect the quality of sleep thus making a person feel less rested even after many hours of sleep.
Sleep Apnea in Medical Parlance
Technically apnea can happen anytime an individual's breathing pauses for 10 seconds or longer. Even if the pause in breathing isn't finish, a reduction of the air intake to less than one-fourth of a normal breath can still signify apnea assuming it lasts longer than 10 seconds. In medical jargon, apnea can result in a marked drop in the oxygen supply to the blood because of the decrease in oxygen intake while the breathing breaks.
Causes and Kinds of Apnea
The commonest form of apnea, occasionally referred to as obstructive sleep apnea, is a condition that usually goes unknown. This form of apnea is caused by a blockage of the airway during sleep, causing periodic falls in the breathing rhythm. Lasting a couple of seconds to many minutes, these air blocks often result in snorting or choking sounds from air streams that exit the airway blocks, and is identified as the major cause of snoring.
The other lesser known sort of sleep apnea is called 'central sleep apnea', where the region in the brain that regulates breathing fails to send the appropriate signals, and the muscles involved in breathing stop functioning briefly. Central sleep apnea is rarely accompanied by snoring and is therefore more difficult to diagnose symptomatically as compared with obstructive apnea.
Knowing Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea is the commonest form of apnea and clinical diagnosis of the situation is virtually unknown. There exist no diagnostic tests, and the only way to possibly diagnose the condition is when the individual or family members describe the symptoms of obstructive apnea. Clinical diagnosis of sleep apnea involves measuring the severity of apnea with what is known as the apnea index (AI).
Getting the right treatment for chronic apnea is extremely important. Untreated apnea could potentially lead to hypertension, increase the risk hearth problems, or even put patients at the risk of a stroke. People with moderate apnea may be able to manage the condition with easy lifestyle modifications and breathing aids while surgical intervention may be the only solution for more severe cases. Regardless of the severity,
Sleep Apnea can be addressed at an early stage to avoid any long-term complications.
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