What exactly is "Sleep Apnea"?

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I have seen many posts about Sleep Apnea being a big medical buster.

What exactly is "Sleep Apnea?" I know that my father has this thing where when he sleeps, he stops breathing for a while (sometimes its scary), and then eventually he GASPS REALLY LOUDLY for air. I've always thought that was sleep apnea, but I'm not sure.

Am I right? And if so, how common is it, and why would that be a medical buster (it only effects sleeping, right?)
 
I'm no doctor, but that sounds exactly like sleep apnea to me Nick. It's a much more serious condition than just being tired. When you stop breathing at night, your body gets deprived of a lot of oxygen, causing a multitude of problems (possible hypertension, heart disease, stroke, etc.). My doctor told me that the health risks involved are similar to smoking two packs a day. Please have your father get a sleep study,(overnight in a hospital), and get it treated if he does have it. They are just finding out how dangerous it can be left untreated.

Mike
 
NickDBrennan said:
I have seen many posts about Sleep Apnea being a big medical buster.

What exactly is "Sleep Apnea?" ....(it only effects sleeping, right?)
Click to expand...
There are two kinds of Sleep Apnea. What happens to some individual is that the tongue flops back during sleep and obstructs the airway. Carbon dioxide builds up but over the years you become sleep tolerant to the CO2 and only when the brain senses low oxygen, it arouses, there's a loud shudder as it arouses and tightens the hyoid muscles that raise the base of the tongue off the back of the throat and a deep breath occurs. The cycle begins over again.

The arousals prevent the brain from going into what we call "Rapid Eye Movement" sleep, which is that phase in which you have dreams and really restful sleep. The result is that you awaken in the AM completely unrested. You slept but didn't rest. The brain wants to drop off to sleep if it can- and some (not all, but enough) develop narcolepsy - "BANG....and you're off to sleep". That is of concern to FAA.

There are some pretty serious consequences if left untreated. All that hypoxia and hypercarbia when you are asleep affect the heart and the pulmonary ciruclation becomes eventually very resistive to blood flow.

Treatment is a airway opening device that you sleep with called a CPAP machine. Keeps you able to breathe. There is also surger to revise the airway- of variable success and of course it hurts like h_ll. When the machine works correctly, most patients report that they feel much better during the day.

The other kind of sleep apnea is central. Here the same process occurs but the problem is in the brain, not in the airway. This is treated with medications and success is variable.
 
Dr. Bruce explained it completely (as I would expect nothing less from the good doctor), but let me tell you what it feels like from the end user's perspective. Before CPAP treatment, I usually woke in the morning feeling like I had run a marathon all night long, and capped it off with a train wreck at the finish line. Which, in essence, is exactly what my body was going thru. Oxygen deprivation, CO2 buildup, a nice jolt of adrenaline to move the muscles in the throat and kick start the breathing again, about once every 30 seconds. After those less than refreshing nights, I would slog thru the day feeling like I was in a fog, running on half a brain. After a severe night, I would come home from work and fall asleep on the couch until dinner, fall asleep on the couch again after dinner, wake up enough to stagger to bed and repeat the cycle the next day. After good nights I just felt generally tired and run down due to sleep deprivation - not really a good spot to be in when trying to make wise choices as PIC.

I never showed signs of narcolepsy, where you fall asleep uncontrolled, but I was able to falll asleep at will, just about anywhere, any time, like standing at parade rest in boot camp, sitting at a stop light, waiting at a train crossing...

CPAP, by the way, stands for Constant Positive Air Pressure and is supplied by a small computerized box with a blower, connected to a mask or nasal device similar to an 02 mask or nasal interfaces that seal against the nose. Additionally, there is BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Air Pressure), which senses inhalation and exhalation and provides a low and high pressure air cycle to match breathing, as well as AutoPAP, which senses demand and adjusts the pressures automatically.

Sleep Apnea is a silent killer and is not something to be taken lightly. While one may not die from the disease directly, the effects from leaving it untreated are serious. Most seek diagnosis and treatment when their spouse has finally had enough and tells them "I've HAD IT! Get to the doctor or go to the guest room!

CPAP treatment is extremely simple and the results are life changing. I've had a couple of power-out nights and got stuck on the road once without my CPAP and the reminder of how miserable I feel the next day is enough to reenforce compliance with the treatment. Get your loved ones to a sleep study if they have the symptoms!

Long term hose head
 
My own comments to add to Greg's experience - that zombie feeling you have all day after staying up way too late and getting up way too early? That's a normal feeling all day, every day for somebody with OSA. I believe it's also been implicated in the deaths of several NFL players the last couple of years. I think Reggie White was just the latest.
 
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