Sleep apnea

What is sleep apnea?

If you have sleep apnea, there are times during the night when you stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer.

Sleep apnea can make you feel tired during the day.

You may wake up with a snorting, choking, or gasping sound. You start breathing again and go back to sleep. This can happen several times an hour, all night, so you can't stay in a deep sleep.

You may not even be aware that you woke up briefly. But if your sleep is upset throughout the night, you'll feel sleepy during the day.

The most common type of sleep apnea is called obstructive sleep apnea. It happens because the muscles in your throat relax, blocking the flow of air to your lungs. Your airway might be completely blocked or only partly blocked. When you stop breathing, the amount of oxygen in your blood drops. Your brain recognizes this and makes your body start breathing again.

Doctors call this type of disturbed sleep and daytime sleepiness obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).

There are also two other kinds of sleep apnea: central sleep apnea and complex sleep apnea.

To find out if you have sleep apnea, and how bad it is, your doctor will need to find out more about how well you breathe while you're asleep. He or she will also ask about how sleepy you are during the day.

Breathing during sleep

Your doctors needs to know how often there is a pause in your breathing. This helps them decide how severe your problem is. You might be asked to stay overnight in a sleep laboratory. Or your doctor might ask you to have your breathing measured at home.

Here's one guide that doctors use:

• If your breathing is affected between five and 20 times an hour, you have mild sleep apnea
• If your breathing is affected between 20 and 35 times an hour, you have moderate sleep apnea
• If your breathing is affected more than 35 times an hour, you have severe sleep apnea.

Daytime sleepiness

You may be asked to fill in a questionnaire called the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

• If you feel drowsy or fall asleep when you're doing things that don't need much attention, like watching TV, you have mild sleep apnea. It only affects your life a little.
• If you feel drowsy or fall asleep doing things that require some attention, such as during a meeting or concert, you have moderate sleep apnea.
• If you feel drowsy or fall asleep doing things like eating, walking, or driving, you have severe sleep apnea. It affects your life a lot.

You are more likely to get sleep apnea if you are:

• Obese. This means you are very overweight. The extra fat around your neck makes it harder for you to keep your throat open when you sleep
• Older. The risk increases as you get older
• A man. Sleep apnea is twice as common among men as it is among women
• Someone who has large tonsils or adenoids
• A recreational user of ecstasy. One small study found a higher risk of sleep apnea for young people who had taken this illegal drug.

Sources for the information on this page:

1. American Academy of Sleep Medicine Task Force.Sleep-related breathing disorders in adults: recommendations for syndrome definition and measurement techniques in clinical research.
2. Young TB, Peppard P.Epidemiology of obstructive sleep apnea.In: McNicholas WT, Phillipson EA (editors). Breathing disorders in sleep. WB Saunders, London, UK; 2002: 31-43.
3. McCann UD, Sgambati FP, Schwartz AR, et al.Sleep apnea in young abstinent recreational MDMA ("ecstasy") consumers.