What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a dangerous sleep disorder because of airflow obstruction and cessation of respiration.

It is a common and potentially fatal disorder, with adverse effects on multiple organ systems in the body, particularly the heart.

These adverse effects can cause mild to severe organ dysfunction.

Consequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

The medical complications of untreated OSA occur because of the direct effects of the periodic blockages in the upper airway.

These direct effects include low blood oxygen levels, the production of large changes in the pressure inside the chest cavity, and arousals from sleep that occur almost every time the airway narrows.

The problems or medical complications associated with untreated sleep apnea are as follows:

• Systemic hypertension: high blood pressure, which causes an increased risk of heart disease, strokes, kidney failure, and poor circulation.
• Left-sided heart failure: inability of the heart to pump the blood adequately, causing shortness of breath, fatigue, and poor ability to exercise.
• Pulmonary hypertension: elevated blood pressure in the lungs associated with shortness of breath, chest pain, and increased mortality.
• Arrhythmias: irregularity of the heart rate.
• Ischemic heart disease: angina pectoris (chest pain) and heart attacks (myocardial infarction) caused by an insufficient supply of blood to the heart.
• Stroke: damage to the brain caused by blockage of blood flow or bleeding.
• Increased mortality.
• Excessive daytime sleepiness.
• Impaired daytime performance.
• Personality changes.

Does Men are Prone to Sleep Disorders?

More than 60% of all men from ages 35 to 65 snore. For a variety of reasons men are more prone to snoring, from hormonal effects on the upper-airway muscles, differences in the distribution of body fat between men and women, and certain differences in the anatomy and function of the upper airways.

However, at around age 60, the statistics change with the number of women snorers greatly rising due to hormonal changes at menopause and body fat distribution. The incidence of snoring sometimes diminishes in men after age 65, yet it remains stable in women.

More than 42% of men with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are impotent. It has been revealed by many studies that men who snore heavily and have OSA may lose their sexual urges because of fatigue or depression, or both, just as some depressed people lose their appetite for food.

Fatigue or coincidental vascular or neurological abnormalities in men who have OSA can result in problems maintaining a penile erection. These men may also have other medical problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, or increased age.

Medications for hypertension or depression may also lead to impotence some men. Obstructive sleep apnea treatment, a possible underlying cause of the high blood pressure or depression, may eliminate or reduce the need for these drugs and improve sexual function.

Chronic snoring is a serious social and public health hazard and may cause poor quality of sleep, changes in the sleep-wake cycle, and lower levels of oxygen in the blood as a result of OSA.

There is diminished daytime alertness, resulting in dramatic changes in mood, effectiveness, and energy because of restless sleep and frequent awakenings.

CPAP

The most common and effective one used today is Nasal CPAP. The CPAP machine, by way of a mask worn during sleep, maintains a positive pressure inside the airway during respiration.

It help in preventing further narrowing or collapse of the airway and in fact increases the size of the airway behind the palate and at the back of the tongue.

Nasal CPAP not only relieves the symptom of excessive daytime sleepiness but also is efficient in improving and reducing the severity of medical problems related with sleep apnea.

Earlier studies have shown that OSA patients have an increased mortality rate, as much as ten times higher than normal. The cause for the high mortality rate is thought to be a combination of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events./p>

Along with OSA, there are other factors present, such as advanced age, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and stroke.

Using nasal CPAP reduces or normalizes the blood pressure in the hypertensive patient with OSA, it does not lower the blood pressure in the person who does not have hypertension associated with OSA.

Unfortunately, researchers are not sure whether the reduction in blood pressure is primarily a result of the effect of nasal CPAP, or whether the people who use nasal CPAP have also changed their lifestyle, such as losing weight, increasing exercise, and changing dietary habits.