What is sleep apnea?

Not breathing: Apnea is breath-holding, or not breathing. Some people have periods of time they don't breath while they are asleep. Sometimes it is related to body weight, other times it is neurological. Treatment usually involves weight loss, mouthguards to reposition the mouth, or even cpap. If not treated, this can lead to lung/heart problems, chronic fatigue, weight gain, and high blood pressure.

Choking: There are two types of sleep apnea, both leading to cessation of airflow to the lungs. Central apnea is the less common one and is due to brain controls not sending the signal to breathe. The more common obstructive type is caused by a relaxation of the muscles in the neck to the point of obstruction of airflow. In that situation, there is an effort to breathe, but the windpipe is blocked.

Sleep Apnea: If you have symptoms such as insomnia snoring hypersomnia excessive daytime sleepiness obesity asian race cognitive deficits mood disorders htn etc increase the chance of sleep apnea rule out other causes, could be medical, genetic long sleeper etc.

R/O OSA: OSA can be suggested by history and physical. Excess snoring/daytime sleepiness/apneic episodes/ aM headaches. And the Exam obesity/small oral airway/collar size>18. The definitive test is a PSG with split night/CPAP titration. I would request copy of sleep study and get a second opinion if you are not satisfied with the options. You are young CPAP can be difficult to tolerate. ENT FOR UPP EVAL.

CPAP: First line treatment of apnea is cpap. Weight loss is important. A mouth guard may help and there are surgical options.

See a specialist: Depending on the underlying cause of your obstruction, there are a number of treatment options, which range from weight loss to corrective jaw surgery. A consultation with a specialist in sleep disorders can help determine which option will be right for you.

Depends: Lot of different options what is the cause of it cpap, oral appliance, surgery etc.

Stopping breathing: Sleep apnea happens when a person is asleep. Apnea is not breathing (no effort is made to take a breath), or the inabilitiy to breath due to an obstruction (but efforts are made to breathe). Osa is obstructive sleep apnea, which is the common problem heavy snorers have, where the tongue, throat, & neck tissues relax and come together, blocking off air flow and stopping snoring noises momentarily.

Closed airway: Sleep apnea is the closure of the airway or significant narrowing of the airway during sleep. Risk factors include being male, being overweight, having a large neck, being a snorer and having daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea increases your risk of stroke, heart attack and high blood pressure.

Stop breathing: Waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air, snoring, being tired all the time.

Low blood oxygen : These are typical signs of sleep apnea, a condition which involve periods of ten seconds or more without breathing (apnea) and periods of time with shallow breathing and a significant decrease in blood oxygen levels (hypopnia). This condition can be diagnosed by a sleep specialist with either an overnight at home sleep test or at a sleep clinic utilizing a full psg.

Sleep apnea: Sleep apnea- a person has pauses in their breathing while sleeping. If left untreated, this can lead to high blood pressure, heart failure, etc. 2 types of sleep apnea-obstructive & central. Obstructive-airways are blocked & lead to pauses. Central-the brain doesn't communicate to your muscles to breathe. More: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea

Anyone: Anyway can have sleep apnea. Young/old, male/female, obese/underweight, healthy/multiple medical problems. There are a lot of risk factors you wouldn't think about including smoking, reflux and congenital deformities even when repaired (cleft palate).

Sleep apnea: Anybody, but most commonly overweight persons with short and wide neck and with narrow upper airway. If you snore, are sleepy, have diabetes, high blood pressure, previous strokes, coronary artery disease or atrial fibrillation, you should be checked.

Overweight: Generally sleep apnea happens in those who are significantly overweight. Losing weight can cure the issue.