Sleep apnoea is a condition which affects sufferers whilst they sleep, causing the muscles and tissues surrounding their airway to relax excessively. Unfortunately, the muscles relax too much, to the point where the airways collapses, causing frequent, short pauses in breathing. Over a night, hundreds of these pauses can occur, each lasting ten seconds and more. People who have the disorder tend to snore, but not all those people who snore have it.
Because the pauses in breathing mean that sleep is disturbed, sufferers only ever get poor quality sleep. Sadly, the condition is not necessarily easy to diagnose and many sufferers tolerate the symptoms for years or decades before they receive treatment. Instead they become used to the symptoms such as daytime sleepiness and headaches that result from the lack of good quality sleep. Diagnosis must be made after a sleep study, but before a patient is asked to take part in a sleep study, a loved one often recognises a problem, or a doctor becomes suspicious that symptoms presented suggest interrupted sleep.
After years of suffering sleep apnoea without treatment serious health problems can occur, such as heart disease and strokes. This means that treating sleep apnoea should be an absolute priority, as soon as it is identified. Individuals who suspect that any health problems they have could be due to poor sleep quality should consult their doctor regarding the possibility of sleep apnoea.
The good news is that simple lifestyle changes can drastically improve the wellbeing of sleep apnoea sufferers. Sleeping on one’s side, avoiding alcohol and sleeping tablets all help to prevent the muscles in the airway from becoming overly relaxed. In more serious cases, a machine known as a CPAP machine can be worn in a similar fashion to a nose and mouth mask in order to provide a flow of air which keeps the airway open.