Do you:
- Snore every night?
- Wake suddenly during the night perspiring, choking or gasping for air?
- Wake in the morning with headaches or a sore throat?
- Fight falling asleep during the day, at work or while driving?
- Feel irritable, have memory loss or a lack of concentration each day?
- Suffer with obesity, reflux or high blood pressure?
Sleep disorders are a silent epidemic affecting the world's population. The debilitating conditions of these disorders include insomnia, persistent sleep deprivation, restless legs syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea. Truly fortunate are those individuals who, over an average lifetime, will experience 219,000 hours of restful nocturnal slumber. But for more than one third of the population, each night becomes an endless battle of interruptions caused by lifestyle choices, work schedules or poor health.
Sleep Apnea or Sleep Apnoea is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. Each pause in breathing typically lasts 10 to 20 seconds or more. These pauses can occur 20 to 30 times or more an hour. Most people who have sleep apnea don't know they have it because it only occurs during sleep.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common is usually caused when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep.
CENTRAL & MIXED APNEA
Central sleep apnea, is not caused by a blocked airway but rather the brain's failure to signal the muscles to breathe.
Mixed apnea, is a combination of the two
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the most common category of sleep-disordered breathing. The muscle tone of the body ordinarily relaxes during sleep, and at the level of the throat the human airway is composed of collapsible walls of soft tissue which can obstruct breathing during sleep. Normal breaths resume with a snort or choking sound. People with sleep apnea often snore loudly. However, not everyone who snores has sleep apnea.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea poses a threat to your life and has been clinically identified to produce morbid consequences to your body such as obesity, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, depression, dementia and unexplained sudden death. Science has dramatically proven that life ceases to exist within four days without water and two weeks without sleep.
How serious is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
In addition to affecting your overall quality of life, obstructive sleep apnea can cause serious health risks, including those shown here:
Because of these health risks, it is important to speak to your doctor if you suspect you may have sleep apnea and, if diagnosed, to follow the treatment your doctor prescribes.
Medical devices for management of OSA
Oxygen Concentrators (Eg. AirSep Oxygen Concentrators)
CPAP ( Continuous Positive Airway Pressure ) solutions (Eg. Fisher & Paykel Manual and Auto CPAP machines)
