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What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
