Sleep Apnea Syndrome: Symptoms, Types, Causes And Treatment
Sleep-related disorders can significantly interfere with a person’s daily life, producing symptoms such as daytime sleepiness, excessive tiredness, and unrefreshing sleep.
In this article we will know sleep apnea syndrome, a disorder that affects breathing while we sleep We will see its types, symptoms, possible causes and treatments.
An apnea is an episode of stopping breathing. Thus, sleep apnea syndrome is a breathing and sleeping condition that comes from the repeated collapse of the upper respiratory tube. The result it produces is a series of pauses in breathing during sleep
Sleep apnea can occur at all ages, although it is most common in men. Depending on the type of syndrome, it occurs more when there is overweight (in obstructive apnea syndrome and central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome) and in older people (in central apnea syndrome).
The diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea syndrome is essential to achieve a more restorative night’s sleep, be more awake during the day and increase the patient’s quality of life.
Guys
Before talking about the different forms of sleep apnea syndrome, let’s define three key concepts to understand the differences between the types of syndromes:
Thus, the three types of sleep disorders related to breathing (and included in ICD-10 and DSM) are:
1. Obstructive apnea syndrome
Apneas or hypopneas appear due to upper airway obstruction
Apneas or hypopneas occur without airway obstruction.
3. Central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome
Exists hypoventilation without apneas or hypopneas
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of sleep apnea syndrome are:
Additionally, many times the bed partner (even someone who sleeps near the person) may be the first person to notice the problem, hearing loud snoring and noticing the person’s “struggle” to breathe while sleeping added to the periods of time where breathing is lacking.
On the other hand, family members, as well as study or work colleagues, may observe that the person is tired during the day (daytime sleepiness), or having trouble staying alert or awake. All of these signs can be symptoms of sleep apnea syndrome and should not be ignored when seeing a doctor.
Causes
The most common cause of sleep apnea syndrome is a partial or total obstruction of the flow of breathing air, caused by relaxation of the muscles surrounding the throat and tongue
Sleep apnea syndrome can be life-threatening when associated with an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke ; That is, it can even cause death.
Most of the time it is related to obesity and aging (the latter in some cases).
Treatment
The treatment of sleep apnea syndrome can be of various types:
1. Behavioral approaches
These types of approaches may be effective for people with mild or moderate sleep apnea and would include the following guidelines:
2. Physical devices
Physical devices can also be effective and used individually or in combination with the above:
Sometimes it can be very effective to use this sealed mask over the nose and mouth, or just over the nose. How does it act? The mask blows air into the upper airway so that it does not collapse while the patient sleeps.
2.2. Dental or oral artifacts
These can be used to create an unobstructed airway, and may be prescribed for patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea.
3. Other treatments
Other treatments that may be effective for sleep apnea syndrome are:
3.1. Surgical procedures
can be taken into account to permanently widen the respiratory tract; However, they are not always effective.
3.2. Pharmacological treatments
Actually, these do not exist today. However, although oxygen can produce improvements, it itself It is not considered an effective treatment
Friend, I. (2012). Psychological manual of health. Madrid: Pyramid.
Pérez, M.; Fernández, JR; Fernández, C. and Amigo, I. (2010). Guide to effective psychological treatments II: Health Psychology. Madrid: Pyramid.
