If you are experiencing daytime fatigue, sleepiness, along with frequent awakenings at night, you may have sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is characterized by excessive snoring, and breath pauses longer than 20 seconds, followed by awakening.
It may be either obstructive or central. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by crowding of the throat, due to obesity, large
adenoids, small pharynx, etc. A neck circumference greater than 48 cm is strongly associated with sleep apnea. It is more common than central apnea, which is caused by dysfunction of the sleep center in the brain. Obstructive sleep apnea is usually diagnosed by a sleep study(polysomnography), which is done in a hospital sleep lab. Brain waves, heart,lungs, body motion, and oxygenation are monitored. Treatment is usually achieved by CPAP, a device worn over the nose. It exerts back pressure to the throat, thereby keeping it open. Patients who do not tolerate the CPAP device, may be candidates for tissue reduction procedures to alleviate the obstruction. Laser or thermal ablation devices are used to trim or reduce the size of nasal turbinates, soft palate, posterior tongue or adenoids to enlarge the airway. In obese individuals, weight loss may deminish or eliminate the problem. An example of a central sleep disorder, is Narcolepsy, which is characterized, by daytime sleepiness, and inability to stay awake, even while performing, critical tasks. It is diagnosed by a special test called, multiple sleep latency, and is treated with stimulants.Pulmonary Specialists with special expertise in sleep disorders, are often needed to diagnose and treat sleep disorders, properly. Snoring alone, may be disruptive to the spouse, but is not enough to conduct a sleep study unless there
is frequent awakening and daytime fatigue.