Adequate sleep (about seven to eight hours for adults) is crucial to your health, alertness and more. Obstructive sleep apnea can hinder this. For Sleep Awareness Month, Dr. Philp Alapat, sleep expert and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, shares the signs and treatment options of this common sleep condition.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when a person's upper airway closes repeatedly during sleep, contributing to the inability to maintain sleep.
"Basic symptoms may include anything from unrefreshing sleep to poor daytime function, inability to maintain alertness or increased daytime sleepiness," said Alapat.
In addition to daytime sleepiness, see your physician for obstructive sleep apnea if you've been told that you:
- Snore loudly.
- Choke during your sleep.
- Have breathing pauses during sleep associated with snoring.
Alapat says that the tried-and-true treatment option for those with OSA is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which is air pressure that is used to maintain an upper airway splint to keep the airway open. A more recent treatment option is hypoglossal nerve stimulation. This is for patients with significant OSA who are unable to use a CPAP machine or a mandibular advancement device, like a mouthguard.
"The patient gets a nerve stimulator surgically implanted into their chest wall, which then stimulates the hypoglossal nerve, which controls some of the muscles that maintain upper airway patency," said Alapat. "This nerve stimulator is turned on before you go to sleep and turned off after you wake up."
For patients with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea, he adds that a core pillar of treatment is weight loss.
"Some recently approved weight loss medications have specifically been looked at for their effect on those with obstructive sleep apnea. Studies have shown that patients who can use these medications to lose weight are able to improve their sleep apnea," said Alapat.
Long-term consequences of untreated obstructive sleep apnea are cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure, leading to strokes or heart attacks.
