Snoring and sleep apnea are common sleep-disordered breathing problems that can affect your sleep, health and quality of life.

 

Approximately one in every five adults¹ have sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

Up to 80% of these are unaware of their condition and remain undiagnosed and untreated.

Snoring and sleep apnea often occur together.

Your airway may:

  • Narrow, limiting airflow as you breathe
  • Vibrate, commonly heard as snoring
  • Collapse, so you stop breathing

 

This third type of change is called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It is the most common type of SDB and each incident may last for 10 seconds or longer.

 

What happens to your airway during sleep apnea?

Click on the questions below to expand and reveal more information...

 

What does a healthy upper airway look like?

1

 

What does an obstructed (blocked) upper airway look like?

1

 

What are the main reasons for upper airway obstruction during sleep?

Lack of muscle tone

Gravity

When tissues obstruct the upper airway completely, they prevent breathing, they work to suffocate the sleeper

The sleeper wakes up enough to regain control of the upper airway, breathe again, and then fall back to slee. This happens from dozens to hundreds of times per night for people with OSA, but they usually don't remember waking

 

What does a partially obstructed airway look like?

1

 

    What are the potential problems resulting from a partially obstructed upper airway during sleep?

    • Each obstruction deprives the body of oxygen and forces it to retain carbon dioxide that it would normally breathe out
    • As a result, the body's blood gases get out of balance, and the body is subjected to a 'toxic' environment
    • When the body sets off 'alarms' that it needs more oxygen, the brain wakes the sleeper, breathing resumes, and the individual falls back to sleep until the next obstruction occurs
    • These obstructions increase heart rate, raise blood pressure, and eventually blunt the body's automatic response system, resulting in increasingly more severe apneas and hypopneas
    • The brief wake-ups that people with OSA experience also diminish their quality of sleep, resulting in sleep deprivation

     

     

Symptoms from lack of sleep are often what prompt people with OSA to visit their doctor.

These may include:

  • Excessive daytime sleepiness
  • Poor concentration
  • Poor memory
  • Depression

 

Find out more about the causes of sleep apnea

 

©2000-2010 ResMed. All rights reserved.