ANCSLEEP BLOG

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disruptive and potentially dangerous sleep disorder that interrupts your breathing multiple times throughout the night, typically for around 20 seconds at a time. These interruptions, known as apnea events, force your body to wake up and start breathing again, preventing you from achieving restful sleep and leading to significant sleep deprivation. The consequences of OSA can be profound and have a negative impact on your overall well-being. While some individuals may be at a higher risk for developing OSA, it's important to assess whether you could be susceptible to this condition.

Apnea events can occur as frequently as 40 times per night for those with mild sleep apnea, and over 240 times per night for individuals with severe sleep apnea. Interestingly, you won't have any recollection of these events in the morning. Regardless of whether you experience 50 or 150 instances of interrupted breathing during the night, the end result is chronic sleep deprivation.

The point is that the consequences are largely the same, the difference may only be the severity of the symptoms and rapidity of damages done.

While there are many potential consequences, they are all related to causing:

• A shortened lifespan
• A lower quality life
• Medical complications

There are various factors that will put you at risk for developing OSA, including:

• Medical and biological risk factors
• Physical risk factors
• Lifestyle risk factors

Let’s look at these risk factors in more detail.

Chronic Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Chronic, “socially unacceptable” snoring could just be something that is the cause of jokes in your family. It could also be sign that you have obstructive sleep apnea, a serious sleep disorder and medical condition. Loud, chronic snoring is one of the primary symptoms of OSA, and is often one of the first signs that there is something wrong.

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder and potentially serious medical condition. OSA causes you to stop breathing for 20+ seconds many times throughout the night. Each time you stop breathing you rouse yourself out of sleep to begin breathing again, thus preventing you from entering the deep, restorative stages of sleep. However, in the morning you will not remember rousing, but will just feel extremely fatigued!

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition and sleeping disorder characterized by repeated cessations of breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 5-30 times an hour. During each pause, the body wakes up to begin breathing again, however, the sleeper will not remember these events. These pauses occur because the throat becomes blocked by collapsed muscles in the back of the neck during exhalation. Each blockage/arousal cycle is called an apnea or apnea event.

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Obstructive sleep apnea is a potentially serious medical condition and sleeping disorder that can lead to severe sleep deprivation. OSA causes repeated cessations in breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 5-30 times per hour. This happens because the muscles in the back of the throat relax at night, blocking the airway. With each pause, the body must wake up to begin breathing again, however, the sleeper normally does not remember these events. Each blockage/arousal cycle is called an apnea or apnea event. Therefore, they awake each morning very tired but are unsure why.

What Exactly is a Sleeping Pill

Sleeping pills are known as sedative hypnotics. They relax the mind and body in order to help one go to sleep. Those who struggle with getting a good night's sleep will often take them. Examples of sleeping medications include:

• Prescription medication, like ambien, Klonopin, etc.
• Over-the-counter aids like Benadryl, Tylenol-PM, and Advil-PM
• Antihistamines and antidepressants

For those with insomnia, sleeping aids can feel like a lifeline; almost as if they could never sleep without them. Although they are quite effective, they also come with hidden dangers. Specifically, individuals with untreated sleep apnea SHOULD NOT take sleeping aids. Sleep specialist Dr. Thomas Winkler said, “For my patients with untreated sleep apnea, I tell them [taking sleeping pills] is a bad idea.”

What Exactly is an Anti-Anxiety Drug

Anti-anxiety drugs are a class of medications called benzodiazepines, which, in addition to treating anxiety, are used to treat muscle spasms. Some examples are:

• Valium (Diazepam)
• Xanax (Alprazolam)
• Ativan (Lorazepam)

One side effect of using anti-anxiety medications is that, like sleeping pills, they relax your muscles. For people who already have untreated obstructive sleep apnea or are at risk for developing it, anti-anxiety can induce or worsen symptoms. Continue reading to learn more about the relationship between anti-anxiety drugs and sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a medical condition characterized by repeated interruptions in breathing during sleep, often occurring 40-100+ times per night. These interruptions cause temporary awakenings to resume breathing, which can disrupt the quality of your sleep without you even realizing it in the morning.

There are three types of sleep apnea:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) - a physical obstruction blocks your attempts to breath (back of throat collapses, blocking airway)
2. Central sleep apnea (CSA) – your brain doesn’t send proper signals to muscles that control breathing
3. Complex sleep apnea – you have markers of both CSA and OSA

Over time, sleep deprivation caused by sleep apnea lead can to:

• Shorter life expectancy 
• Lower quality life
• Other medical complications

Central sleep apnea (CSA) is a conditions in which you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night because your brain periodically stops sending messages to your brain to breathe. In order to begin breathing again, your body temporarily wakes up. This cycle is called an apnea or apnea event. Due to CSA, you may have anywhere from 40 to 100+ apnea events per night. The most common scale used to measure the severity of sleep apnea is number of apneas per hour:

• Mild sleep apnea: 5-14 apneas per hour of sleep
• Moderate sleep apnea: 15-30 apneas per hour of sleep
• Severe apnea: 30+ apneas per hour of sleep

Both mild and severe CSA can lead to a high degree of sleep deprivation and associated consequences. CSA is relatively uncommon compared to the other apnea sleep condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Socially unacceptable snoring is a term for very loud snoring that is often so disruptive, you end up being the butt of your family's jokes. Socially unacceptable snoring is not only disruptive to the whole household, but my indicate a more serious underlying disorder. If your loud snoring requires your bed partners to wear earphones, happens consistently every night, and can be heard throughout the house, then it's not just a "quirky trait".

While socially unacceptable snoring may lead to humor or frustration among friends and family, it is crucial to recognize that it could signify a more significant issue for the snorer. It is not just an inconvenience for the bed partner; it is often a primary symptom of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a serious sleep disorder with potential health implications.

Understanding the distinctions between socially unacceptable snoring and potential OSA-related snoring is vital. Identifying the underlying cause of chronic snoring is the initial step towards addressing any health concerns.