Sleep apnea is a medical condition and sleeping disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 5 to 30+ times per hour. This can happen because of:
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form. Each time you stop breathing is considered an “apnea” or “apnea event”. Sleep apnea can be considered mild, moderate, or severe.
Here is a general breakdown of what's considered mild, moderate, and severe OSA.
When you stop breathing and rouse this much throughout the night (anywhere from 40 to hundreds of times throughout the night!) the natural result is severe sleep deprivation. As a result, your life may be shorter, more miserable, and less performant than if you treated your sleep apnea. Unfortunately, the risk factors are generally the same for mild-severe sleep apnea, the only difference may be the treatment used.
Most commonly, CPAP therapy is used to treat mild-severe sleep apnea with CPAP or BiPAP machines.
A CPAP machine is a small, rectangular box with a motorized fan inside and an adjacent humidifier.
Connected to the CPAP device is a flexible tube that leads to a breathing mask. The hose is a lightweight and kept warm in order to reduce condensation.
Finally, the primary component in CPAP machines is a small fan inside. The small fan inside delivers gentle, positive pressure through a connected hose to the breathing mask. This results in no more lapses of breathing throughout night because the positive air pressure keeps your airway open. The pressure can be a little strange at first, but it’s rare that people report any long terms problems associated with it.
Regardless of the severity of sleep apnea, CPAP therapy will likely be the prescribed remedy. However, CPAP therapy may be prescribed only after other, traditional, DIY options fail [resmed]. These include:
These interventions and changes work because mild sleep apnea may be caused by:
Mild sleep apnea should still be addressed with the same seriousness as severe sleep apnea, because they both carry risks for:
If you live in Alaska, and are concerned that you or a loved one has sleep apnea or has already been diagnosed, please consult with our sleep specialists about any questions you have.