Obstructive sleep apnea & snoring

What are the Warning Signs of OSAS?

IN ADULTS:

Excessively loud snoring which can be heard rooms away (or even by the neighbors)
A pattern of snoring interrupted by pauses, then gasps, is a sign that breathing stops and restarts. Occasionally, patients will remember waking up short of breath or gasping, although usually there are many more stop-breathing episodes that are not recalled.
Falling asleep at the wrong times, such as at work or while driving.
Trouble concentrating, or becoming forgetful, irritable, anxious, or depressed.
Morning headaches or nausea, frequent trips to the bathroom to urinate at night, and loss of interest in sex. Men may complain of impotence and women my have menstrual irregularities.

These Problems usually appear slowly and progress over many years, so that the patient may not recognize the symptoms. Sometimes the patient thinks the symptoms are just from getting older or are not serious. Family members, employers, or co-workers may be the first to recognize a pattern of excessive sleepiness and/or changes in mood or behavior, and should encourage a visit to a health care professional.

IN CHILDREN:

Being over-weight or having enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids.
Certain birth defects that affect the size and shape of the throat, face, or chin such as Down Syndrome
While asleep, children with OSAS may:

         - snore or squeak
         - have difficulty breathing
         - sleep fitfully
         - have daytime hyperactivity

Older children who have OSAS may seem sluggish and may perform poorly in school. Sometimes they are labeled "slow" or "lazy."
Some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS, or crib death) may be due to OSAS, although how often this is true is still uncertain and research continues.

Information obtained by:

American Academy of Sleep Medicine

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome?

The muscles that stiffen and open the throat tend to relax during sleep in normal children and adults. This relaxation leads to slight narrowing of the throat that does not cause any problem for most people. However, in people with OSAS, this narrowing of the breathing passage is so great that breathing becomes difficult, as if they were breathing through a floppy, wet straw. The brain senses that breathing is difficult and increases the effort to breathe. Eventually, this increased effort awakens the brain, which signals the throat muscles to become active again, which then reopens the breathing passage. With the breathing passage once more open, the effort to breathe decreases and the person goes back to sleep. This cycle of falling asleep,throat narrowing, raised effort to breathe and then arousal from sleep tends to repeat itself throughout the night, and can disturb sleep dozens to hundreds of times each night. Most of these awakenings are so brief that they are not remembered the next morning. An individual with this pattern of obstructed breathing, brief awakenings from sleep, and daytime symptoms is said to have OSAS.

Information obtained by:
American Academy of Sleep Medicine

www.sleepfoundation.org