Patients wake up during the night due to pauses in breathing, gasping for breath or a feeling of suffocation, snoring, daytime drowsiness, etc., warning of sleep apnea syndrome.
Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by intermittent cessation of breathing during sleep for 10 seconds or more and resulting in reduced oxygen levels in the blood. Intermittent hypoxemia and sleep fragmentation lead to oxidative stress, sympathetic activation, and endothelial dysfunction.
Sleep apnea can cause many serious complications such as high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, even stroke and sudden death. According to statistics from the American Association of Sleep Medicine AASM, up to 80% of patients with sleep apnea syndrome are undiagnosed.
PhD.BS. Phan Thanh Thuy, Respiratory Center, Bach Mai Hospital, said sleep apnea syndrome is classified into 3 groups: obstructive apnea, central apnea and mixed apnea. Among them, obstructive apnea syndrome accounts for the majority, commonly found in men, smokers, overweight, obese, short neck, small jaw; or family history of snoring or sleep apnea.
Signs that suggest apnea include: Snoring, patients complaining of daytime sleepiness, morning fatigue or even insomnia. Patients wake up during the night due to apnea, gasping for air or a feeling of suffocation. Sleep partners or others may note that the patient sleeps with frequent snoring, apnea, or both.
Patients diagnosed with hypertension, mood disorders, cognitive disorders, coronary artery disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation or type 2 diabetes are the group to be screened for apnea syndrome during sleep if at least one of three symptoms are present: Snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness or apnea is witnessed. However, for an accurate diagnosis, the patient needs to be examined by a specialist and have a respiratory polygraph or polysomnogram for diagnosis.
Snoring is a warning sign of sleep apnea syndrome. Image: Pexels
Sleep apnea is a disease that causes many consequences and complications, even dangerous diseases. First, due to sleep fragmentation, patients often exhibit excessive daytime sleepiness, leading to an increase in traffic and occupational accidents. More seriously, the reduction in sleep quality caused by this disease can also cause mental health problems. Patients may experience fatigue, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and depression. These problems can affect the patient’s quality of life and work performance, making them easily irritable and agitated in unwanted situations. This condition can affect the patient’s social and family relationships.
This syndrome can also lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, etc. In particular, sleep apnea can also lead to sleep apnea. increased risk of cardiovascular disease such as resistant hypertension, arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, and stroke.
Sleep apnea can occur in up to 35% of patients with hypertension, 50% of patients with atrial fibrillation, 50% of patients with heart failure, and up to 80% of patients with resistant hypertension. A meta-analysis of stroke patients in Asia found that up to 74% of stroke patients had sleep apnea. One of the most dangerous complications of sleep apnea syndrome is sudden death during the night due to low blood oxygen saturation and arrhythmia, acute myocardial infarction.
Depending on the patient’s symptoms and the severity of sleep apnea, the doctor decides to choose appropriate treatment methods. The main measures to treat sleep apnea syndrome include: Losing weight, adjusting a reasonable diet and exercising to maintain ideal weight in cases of overweight and obesity. Surgical treatment in cases of upper respiratory tract abnormalities such as hypertrophic tonsils, small jaw, and posterior recession. Wear a device that pushes the lower jaw forward. Positive pressure ventilation. Stimulates nerve XII. Among them, positive pressure ventilation is the most common non-invasive method used today.