Snoring accompanied by symptoms such as excessive sleepiness, daytime fatigue, and frequent awakenings due to difficulty breathing can be a sign of sleep apnea.
Snoring is the condition of making unconscious sounds while sleeping. According to M.D. Dang Thanh Do, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tam Anh General Hospital, Hanoi, most snoring does not affect health. However, this could be a sign of sleep apnea syndrome – a serious sleep disorder.
Sleep apnea is a condition in which inhaled airflow is temporarily interrupted for more than 10 seconds due to airway obstruction or central nervous system damage. The common cause is obstruction, which occurs when the tissues in the pharynx area compress, causing the airflow to pass through interrupted, leading to snoring. Patients often snore loudly and intermittently, accompanied by gasping sounds that cause sudden awakening. People who snore often snore continuously throughout the night, until they wake up.
Sleep apnea can occur at any age, but is more common in middle age. People who are alcoholics, use sedatives, narcotics, have diabetes, hypertension, hypothyroidism, heart failure, cerebrovascular disease… are at high risk of sleep apnea. People who are obese, have a narrow throat, and have a receding chin often have sleep apnea. In addition, the disease may be caused by the brain not sending the right signals to control breathing, which is related to stroke or heart failure. People with chronic lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often have difficulty breathing, leading to snoring.
Prolonged sleep apnea, if not diagnosed and treated promptly, can seriously affect health and risk causing sudden death. Patients experience daytime sleepiness, increasing the risk of car accidents, difficulty at work, and sexual dysfunction.
A polysomnographer checks for sleep apnea. Image: Hospital provided
Sleep disruption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias, high blood pressure, and stroke. The risk of stroke and death increases despite controlling other risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes…
Polysomnography helps evaluate sleep disorders and diagnose sleep apnea. The machine records all the physiological changes that occur during sleep, painlessly. Patients can measure themselves at home with a respiratory polygraph (a machine with a simple structure, fewer signal channels but easier to use than a sleep polygraph) according to the doctor’s advice. In addition, ENT endoscopy also helps detect pathologies and structures that cause narrowing and obstruction of the airways. Based on the results obtained and clinical factors, the doctor can conclude whether the patient’s snoring is related to sleep apnea or not.
After being diagnosed and assessing the severity of sleep apnea, the doctor will advise on appropriate treatment. People with mild illness need to lose weight, sleep on their side, put their head up when sleeping, and change their lifestyle such as reducing alcohol, smoking… to help improve sleep quality, which can improve snoring.
Patients can use mouth support devices to push the jaw to treat allergic rhinitis and ear, nose and throat diseases that cause narrowing and obstruction of the airways, if any. Moderate or severe patients often wear a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine while sleeping or have uvulopharyngeal plasty surgery (UPPP) to treat snoring and complications caused by sleep apnea. should.