Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Snoring

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Recent research has linked many disorders to obstructive sleep apnea.  Obstructive sleep apnea is when the airway collapses during sleep, blocking the flow of air to the lungs.  The person tries to continue to breathe, but the harder they try the tighter the airway closes.  Eventually the brain “wakes up” the person to a lighter level of sleep and they will reposition their jaw and tongue to open the airway—usually with a gasp or a snort.  They will then usually start the whole process over again.

Obviously, being suffocated many times per hour will result in a less than restful sleep.  Sleep is broken into 4 main stages:

Stage 1 = Transition.  This should account for roughly 5% of your total sleep time.

Stage 2 = Light Sleep.  This should account for about 45% of total sleep time.

Stage 3 & 4 = Deep Sleep.  This is when the body heals itself and performs many important reparative functions.  One should ideally have about 25% deep sleep.  People who have a lack of deep sleep tend to be physically tired.

REM = Rapid Eye Movement Sleep.  This is when we dream and the brain takes care of reparative functions—similar to defragmenting the hard drive on your computer.  REM should also account for about 25% of your sleep time.  People that have a lack of REM sleep tend to feel mentally tired and have a difficult time concentrating.

There are many health issues that have not had clear causes that are now being tied to sleep apnea.  These include:

• Depression
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD) and Heartburn
• Morning Headaches
• Impotence
• Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
• Chronic Pain

Sleep apnea is also considered a risk factor for several serious health problems, such as:

• High Blood Pressure
• Heart Attack
• Stroke

Sleep apnea also affects children.  Usually this is due to the child having large tonsils that obstruct the airway.  Just like in adults, often snoring is a sign of an obstructed airway.  Some of the problems common in children that have been linked to sleep apnea include:

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
• Mood Disorders
• Bed Wetting
• Problems Learning
• Growth Problems

Sleep apnea can also adversely affect the sleep of the bed partner of the person with sleep apnea! Click here for a study by the Mayo Clinic on the effect of sleep apnea and snoring on the bed partner.

The quality of your sleep greatly affects your quality of life.  The good news is that help is readily available and usually doesn’t require medications.  If you think you may have sleep apnea or you know someone who might, please ask us for a referral to a qualified sleep specialist in your area or talk to your primary care doctor.  Treating sleep apnea can add more life to your years and more years to your life.

Oral appliance therapy has become a widely used and excepted method of treating sleep disordered breathing.  The “gold standard” therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is “CPAP” or continuous positive airway pressure.  Although CPAP is usually very effective at treating OSA, there are many patients who are not able to tolerate its use.  If you have tried to use CPAP, but have given up on using the therapy, an oral appliance may be for you.




Good News!!  Oral appliance therapy for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep disordered breathing problems is usually covered by your medical insurance!

Snoring

If your physician believes that your snoring is not a symptom of more serious sleep disordered breathing problem, an oral appliance can be used to quiet your snoring and improve the sleep of your bed partner!  Dr. Spencer and Dr. Murphy have brought many a couple back to the same bedroom by eliminating snoring.

Since snoring is currently viewed as a “cosmetic” issue by insurance companies, your insurance will usually not help with the cost of your care.  However, snoring is often a symptom of sleep apnea or upper airway resistance syndrome.  Dr. Spencer and Dr. Murphy recommend evaluation by a knowledgeable sleep specialist, ENT or neurologist prior to any treatment for snoring.