Sleep Apnea Treatment

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which the sufferer stops breathing for brief periods of time during sleep. Treating sleep apnea is important, not only to provide individuals with a good night's sleep but also to protect them from the disorder's long-term effects, which include stroke, heart attack, weight gain and depression.

Types of Sleep Apnea

There are two types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when a person's airway is blocked. Many things, including enlarged tonsils and/or a deviated septum, can cause OSA. Too much tissue in the neck, often caused by obesity, can also obstruct the airway, preventing sleepers from being able to breathe.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA): Central sleep apnea occurs when a defect in the central nervous system prevents a person from being able to breathe properly during sleep. Neuromuscular diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, can cause CSA. It can also be caused by heart disease or stroke.

Treatments for Sleep Apnea

The first step in treating sleep apnea is to visit your doctor. However, often people may not realize they have a sleeping disorder. Some go to the doctor seeking snoring remedies, while others visit the doctor for side effects related to sleep apnea, such as weight gain, daytime tiredness, mood changes or depression.

If your doctor suspects that you are suffering from a sleep disorder, he will probably want you to visit a sleep lab, or sleep disorder center. Once at the lab, you will be hooked up to electrodes that will monitor your heart rate, brain activity and blood oxygen levels while you sleep. This data will help doctors determine if you have a sleeping disorder.

What Can You Do?

If your doctor diagnoses you with obstructive sleep apnea, there are several treatment options available. Here are some steps you can take to control your condition:

If you smoke, you need to consider quitting. Smoking can cause or increase swelling of the tissue in the back of your throat, which, in turn, can aggravate OSA.
It is also best to avoid alcohol and sleeping pills. Both cause the muscles in the throat to relax even more than normal during sleep and can negatively affect your quality of sleep by aggravating sleep apnea.
Since obesity can cause OSA, you might also consider losing weight if you are overweight. If you are obese, losing as little as 10 percent of your excess body weight can reduce sleep apnea.
Sleeping positions, such as sleeping on your back, can also aggravate sleep apnea. To avoid this, support your back with long body pillows to help you stay on your side throughout the night. Some people even resort to sewing a tennis ball into the back of their pajamas to discourage back sleeping.

Seeking Medical Intervention for Sleep Apnea

If, in spite of your efforts, you find you are still suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, there are several medical options to help you get a good and healthy night's sleep.

Studies have shown that sleepers who use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines not only eliminate or lower their symptoms of sleep apnea but also lower their risk of heart disease. CPAP machines use a facemask to pump continuous pressure (air) into a person's mouth and upper airway. This forces the airway open, helping alleviate sleep apnea.

Your dentist can also fit you with a device called a mandibular advancement splint, which will push your lower jaw forward while you sleep and prevent your tongue from falling back into your throat.

The primary treatment for central sleep apnea is typically a CPAP machine. Because the disorder is caused by a malfunction of the central nervous system, lifestyle changes have little or no effect on treating it.

Surgical Treatments for Sleep Apnea

If your sleep apnea doesn't respond to more conservative measures, there are surgical treatments that can help, including:

Somnoplasty: A somnoplasty uses radio frequency waves to tighten the tissue at the back of the throat. A somnoplasty is usually only effective for treating sleep apnea for a short time, as the tissue will eventually relax.
Tonsillectomy and/or Adenoidectomy: If enlarged tonsils or adenoids are causing the problem, you can have surgery to remove them.
Tracheostomy: In this surgery, the surgeon puts a hole in your windpipe (trachea) and inserts a tube in the hole to help increase airflow.

Doctors rarely resort to this surgery, as it may cause other health problems. However, almost all people who have a tracheostomy are cured of their sleep apnea.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP): A UPPP is a surgical procedure that removes excess tissue at the back of the throat. This can either be performed with a laser in an outpatient facility or in a regular operating room.

Resources

Help Guide (2007). Sleep Apnea. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from the Help Guide Web site: http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_apnea.htm.

Lung Association (2007). Sleep Apnea. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from the Lung Association Web site: http://www.lung.ca/diseases-maladies/apnea-apnee/
treatment-traitement/index_e.php.

WebMD (2007). Sleep Apnea Treatments. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from the WebMD Web site: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/122/114957.htm.