Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep. Each pause in breathing is called an apnea and can last from at least ten seconds to well over a minute. These events can occur anywhere from 5 to over 100 times per hour and can be accompanied by a serious drop in an individual’s blood oxygen level. Each abnormally shallow breathing event is called a hypopnea. Sleep apnea is most commonly diagnosed via an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram. There are three forms of sleep apnea: Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Complex Sleep Apnea, which is a combination of central and obstructive.

• In CSA, breathing is interrupted by a lack of respiratory effort. The patient simply stops trying to breathe periodically throughout the night.
• In OSA, breathing is interrupted by a physical blockage to airflow despite respiratory effort, and is usually accompanied by mild to severe snoring, but not always. The blockage is typically caused by the relaxation of the patient’s tongue or the tissue of the patient’s upper airway.

Regardless of the type of sleep apnea, individuals are often unaware that they have a sleep problem, even when their sleep apnea causes frequent arousals throughout the night. Sleep apnea is most often first recognized by someone other than the patient (such as a bed partner or a parent), who may observe the individual's snoring and apneic episodes.

Patients with sleep apnea are often symptomatic, even if they don’t recognize the symptoms, as they may develop gradually over the course of many years, or even decades. Symptoms include, but are not limited to: Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), frequent arousals at night, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep, irritability and lack of concentration.

There are many misconceptions about who may, or may not, have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea does not discriminate; it is not just men, or obese individuals, or those who are of a particular age, that are likely to have sleep apnea. Men and women, adults and children, obese individuals as well as those who are within normal weight limits, can all have sleep apnea. Obesity does put a person at greater risk for sleep apnea, but it is certainly not the only determining factor. Sleep apnea is a very dangerous condition as it can go unnoticed and untreated for a long time. Sleep apnea puts a person at a higher risk for all of the following:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Type II Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Life Threatening Arrhythmias
• Respiratory Illness

If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea or have any reason to believe that you may have sleep apnea, please take it very seriously. Thankfully, it is treatable (please see our Treatment Options page). If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to give us a call to discuss your options.