Obstructive sleep apnoea

Sleep apnoea is one of those vague diseases that most people have heard of but rarely do they know what the disease entails

This post is an attempt to demistify Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)

In South Africa it is estimated that 23% of the adult population (age 30 -69) has Sleep Apnoea – that is approximately 6 milion people!

Patients rarely consult a doctor due to poor quality sleep – they might make an appointment for insomnia (see previous post) or a spouse might force them to do something about their terrible snoring!

In obstructive sleep apnoea there are episodes of arousal/wakenings at night due to poor air flow. These can be so short that you as the patient might not even realize that they have occured. A bed partner might report that the patient stopped breathing or gasped during the night

The STOP BANG questionnaire is an easy to use form and can be filled in online to assess your risk

Sleep apnoea can be diagnosed with specialized testing modalities. Most commonly in South Africa an apnoea specific overnight test or in certain cases a full polysomnogram will be used. Recently there has been interest in using other devices such as wearable devices (Fitbits etc), Easy to use sleep diaries, pulse volume measurements. These might be an option if sleep studies are not accessible. 

Why the big deal about my sleep?

Poor quality sleep as in Sleep apnoea causes 

• cardiovascular strain (your heart is under pressure), 
• metabolic changes (such as insulin resistance), and 
• mood disorders 
• daytime sleepiness

but there are many others consequences.

The American Heart Association has even gone as far as stating in 2016 that “Both short and long duration sleep and sleep disorders such as SDB (like Sleep apnoea) and insomnia are associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk profiles and outcomes.” This means that these conditions increases amongst other things your risk for having a heart attack!!

Treatment options vary but generally you might need to sleep with a CPAP machine. Some other options do show promise so make sure you discuss these with your doctor

Soem good information can also be found on Sleeplink website

Bottom line is that Obstructive sleep apnoea is common and has an impact on your overall health. I feel that this condition should be ruled out whilst treating a lot of other conditions