Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea, (apnea is Greek for “without breath”) is a disorder characterized by frequent pauses in breathing during sleep.  These pauses, called apneas, occur at least five times an hour and can last up to a minute each, resulting in a loss of oxygen to the brain.  Individuals with sleep apnea are rarely aware of these episodes, even upon wakening.  The symptoms of sleep apnea are common and non specific: morning headache, drowsiness, fatigue, which means they are often dismissed by the individual as unimportant.  The disorder, therefore, can go undiagnosed for years.

Further symptoms of sleep apnea are cessation of breathing during sleep, loud snoring accompanied by snorting, abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, restless sleep, difficulty staying asleep.  Unfortunately, the individual is usually unaware of these symptoms of sleep apnea, so has no idea anything is wrong.  When a partner, friend or family member is on hand to witness these symptoms of sleep apnea, and make the individual aware, a diagnosis and treatment can more readily be obtained.

Three types of sleep apnea have been defined; obstructive, central and mixed.  Obstructive is the most common and results from relaxation of the throat muscles to the point of collapsing the trachea and blocking the airway.  Loud snoring, particularly accompanied by snorting, is the most prevalent of the obstructive form of symptoms of sleep apnea.  For the central form, the symptoms of sleep apnea most often include the abrupt awakenings with shortness of breath.  Here the central nervous system is involved, because the brain, upon recognizing the low blood oxygen, sends improper signals to the breathing muscles.  Mixed sleep apnea is simply a combination of the two and though less common, is more difficult to definitively diagnose.

Drowsiness, fatigue, snoring: may not seem worrisome, but in truth, these symptoms of sleep apnea, undiagnosed and untreated can lead to severe complications.  Lack of oxygen to the brain can cause memory problems, inability to focus, personality changes and even depression.  Serious cardiovascular disease can arise as well, along with high blood pressure, impotency, and weight gain. 

We all have bad days, bad weeks, even bad months when we simply don’t get enough sleep.  Individuals suffering from the symptoms of sleep apnea, however, experience these “bad days’” in excess.  Every morning for weeks, the individual wakens with a morning headache, dry mouth or sore throat, or suddenly falls sleep during meetings, during conversations, and possibly even while driving.  Or, once they fall asleep at night, can’t stay asleep.  Restlessness results, and the individual gets insufficient rest, and the pattern repeats.

When first defined in 1965, sleep apnea was considered rare, but currently this disorder affects over 18 million Americans, 10 million of which exhibit symptoms.  Due to lack of awareness in the general public and in the healthcare industry, however, only 0.6 million cases of sleep apnea have been diagnosed.  Fortunately, the symptoms of sleep apnea are diagnosable and treatable.  Several types of treatments are available and research continues into additional options.

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