Sleep Apnea

The temorary absence of breathing during sleep. This common disorder, which affects about 10% of all middle-aged men, and about 5% of middle-aged women, in the U.S. is classified according to the mechanism involved and by whether or not it is associated with daytime sleepiness.
In obstructive sleep apnea, vigorous respirtory effects are present during sleep but the flow of air in and out of the airways is blocked by upper airway obstruction. Patients with obstruction apnea are usually middle-aged, obese men who make loud snorting, snoring, and gasping sounds during sleep. By contrast, central sleep apnea is marked by absence of respiratory muscle activity. Patients with central sleep apnea may exhibit excessive daytime sleepiness, but snorting and gasping during sleep are absent. Occasionally life-threatening central apnea occur as a result of strokes.
Mixed apnea begins with the absence of respiratory effort, followed by upper airway obstruction. Whenever apneas are prolonged, oxygenation drops and carbon dioxide blood levels rise. Patients often awaken many times during the night or have fragmented sleep architecture. In the morning, many patients complain of headache, fatigue, drowsiness, or an unsatisfying night's rest. In addition, these individuals often have hypertention, arrhythmias, type 2 diabetes mellitus, or signs and symptems of right-sided heart failure. Although these findings may suggest the diagnosis, formal sleep studies in a laboratory are needed to document the disorder and to measure the effects of apnea on oxygenation and other physical parameters.

SYMPTOMS: Parterns of patients with sleep apnea are dften the first to notice the patient's disordered breathing during sleep. Occasionally patients see thier health care providers becuase of hypersomnolence: they may report falling asleep during the daytime in unusual cirumstances.

TREATMENT: Optimal therapy of obstructive sleep apnea is to assist breathing with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) if the patient cannot correct the copndition by losing weight. CPAP provides a pneumatic splint that maintains airway patency during sleep. Palatal obstruction, a finding in a small number of patients, can be surgically corrected. Medroxyprogesterone may be of some benefit but is clearly less effective than CPAP.


Now why did I wright all of this about sleep apnea? it is something else that I have.
Getting it ready for sleep is a job and a half. You have to fill the water tank, turn it on and hit the ramp botton. The nighty night.