

An estimated 1-6% of all children and adolescents have obstructive sleep apnea.

If these measures don't improve your sleep or if your apnea is moderate to severe, then your doctor may recommend other treatments. Using a nasal decongestant or allergy medications.Drinking alcohol moderately, if at all, and not drinking several hours before bedtime.

Treatment also can reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.įor milder cases of obstructive sleep apnea, your doctor may recommend lifestyle changes, such as: Treatment may improve other medical problems linked to sleep apnea, such as high blood pressure. The goals of treating sleep apnea are to restore regular breathing during sleep and to relieve symptoms, such as loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. Medicines typically aren't used to treat the condition. Sleep apnea is treated with lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices and surgery. Sleep studies are the most accurate tests for diagnosing sleep apnea. These tests can help your doctor find out if you have a sleep disorder and how severe it is. Sleep studies are tests that measure how well you sleep and how your body responds to sleep problems. Increase the risk of complications with certain medications and surgery.Increase the chance of having work-related or driving accidents.Make arrhythmias ( irregular heartbeats) more likely.

Increase the risk of developing, or worsen heart failure.Increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity and diabetes.Use of alcohol, sedatives or tranquilizers.Risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea: Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia).Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat.Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, which more likely indicates central sleep apnea.Episodes of breathing cessation during sleep witnessed by another person.Loud snoring, which is usually more prominent in obstructive sleep apnea.The most common signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas include: Also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, complex sleep apnea syndrome occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. You may awaken with shortness of breath or have a difficult time getting to sleep or staying asleep.Ĭomplex sleep apnea syndrome. This means you make no effort to breathe for a short period of time. This form is much less common than obstructive sleep apnea and occurs when your brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. These disruptions impair your ability to reach the desired deep, restful phases of sleep, and you'll probably feel sleepy during your waking hours.Ĭentral sleep apnea. This pattern can repeat itself five to 30 times or more each hour, all night long. You may make a snorting, choking or gasping sound. This awakening is usually so brief that you don't remember it. Your brain senses this inability to breathe and briefly awakens you from sleep so that you can reopen your airway. This may lower the level of oxygen in your blood. When the muscles relax, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe in, and you can't get an adequate breath. This is the more common form, which occurs when throat muscles relax. More than 18 million American adults have sleep apnea, and many cases are undiagnosed. This may happen a few times a night, or in more severe cases, hundreds of times during the night. Your brain and body become oxygen-deprived, and you may wake up. When this happens, you may snore loudly or making choking noises as you try to breathe. Sleep apnea is a serious condition in which you repeatedly stop breathing or have shallow breaths while you sleep.
