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  +971 4 378 6666

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  +971 4 378 6666

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  +971 4 378 6666

  info@azhd.ae

        

  +971 4 378 6666

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ENT – Snoring and sleep Apnea Clinic

Everything about sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder characterized by recurrent pauses in breathing. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and feel exhausted even after a full night of sleep.
The most common forms of sleep apnea are:
  • Obstructive sleep apnea, the most prevalent type, occurs when the throat muscles relax.
  • Central sleep apnea, which occurs when the brain fails to send the proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.
  • Complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, occurs when both obstructive and central sleep apnea are present.

Symptoms

The symptoms and indicators of obstructive and central sleep apnea overlap, making it difficult to distinguish between the two. These are the most prevalent signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apnea:
  • Excessive snoring.
  • Breathing pauses during sleep, which may be noticed by another person.
  • Aspirating for breath when sleeping.
  • Having a parched mouth when you wake up.
  • Morning migraine.
  • Difficulty falling asleep (insomnia).
  • Prolonged daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia).
  • Difficulty concentrating while awake.
  • Irritability.

Causes Obstructive sleep apnea

This occurs when the back of the throat muscles relaxes. The soft palate, uvula, tonsils, side walls of the throat, and tongue are supported by these muscles.
When muscles relax, the airway narrows or closes during inhalation. You cannot get enough air, which can drop your blood oxygen level. Your brain detects that you are unable to breathe and momentarily awakens you so that you can reopen your airway. This awakening is typically so brief that it is forgotten.
You may snort, suffocate, or gasp. This can happen anywhere from five to thirty times an hour all night long, keeping you from getting into the deep, restful stages of sleep.

Hazard Factors

Sleep apnea can affect anyone, including infants. However, certain variables enhance your risk.
Included among the risk factors for this type of sleep apnea are:
  • Extra weight Obesity increases the risk of sleep apnea significantly. Deposits of fat around the upper airway might impede breathing.
  • Neck circumference: Individuals with broader necks may have smaller airways.
  • A narrowed airway: It is possible that you inherited a narrow throat. Tonsils or adenoids can also swell and obstruct the airway, especially in children.
  • Being male: Men are two to three times as likely as women to develop sleep apnea. However, obesity and menopause tend to raise a woman's risk for breast cancer.
  • Being older: Sleep apnea is substantially more prevalent among elderly individuals.
  • Family genealogy Having a family history of sleep apnea may increase your own risk.
  • Use of sedatives: tranquilizers, or alcohol. These medications relax the throat muscles, which might exacerbate obstructive sleep apnea.
  • Smoking Never-smokers are three times less likely to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea than smokers. Smoking can make the upper airway more inflamed and cause it to hold on to more fluid.
  • Nasal blockage: If you have trouble breathing through your nose, either because of a physical problem or allergies, you are more likely to get obstructive sleep apnea.
  • Medical problems Conditions: such as congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson's disease may raise the risk of obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, polycystic ovarian syndrome, hormonal problems, a history of stroke, and chronic lung diseases like asthma all raise the risk.

Complications

Sleep apnea is a severe medical disorder. Complicacies may involve:
  • Tiredness during the day: Sleep apnea causes frequent awakenings that keep people from getting enough restful sleep. This makes it more likely that people will be very sleepy, tired, and irritable during the day.
  • You may have trouble concentrating and falling asleep at work, when watching television, or while driving. People with sleep apnea are more likely to be involved in automobile and workplace accidents.
  • You may also feel irritable, melancholy, or moody. Children and adolescents with sleep apnea may have academic and behavioral difficulties.
  • Hypertension or cardiovascular problems: During sleep apnea, sudden reductions in blood oxygen levels raise blood pressure and strain the cardiovascular system. Having obstructive sleep apnea raises the risk of hypertension (hypertension).
  • Additionally, obstructive sleep apnea may increase your risk of recurrent heart attack, stroke, and irregular heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation. People with heart disease can die suddenly from a lack of oxygen in their blood if they have hypoxia or hypoxemia more than once.
  • Diabetes type 2: Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are more likely to happen if you have sleep apnea.
  • Metabolic Syndrome: This condition is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. It is marked by high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, and a bigger waist circumference.
  • Adverse drug reactions and surgical complications: Certain drugs and general anesthesia also pose the risk of obstructive sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea may be more likely to have problems after major surgery because they have trouble breathing, especially when they are sedated and on their backs.
  • Inform your doctor about your sleep apnea and its treatment before undergoing surgery.
  • Liver problems: Individuals with sleep apnea are more likely to have abnormal liver function test findings, and their livers are more prone to scarring (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease).
  • Sleep-deprived couples Snoring can prevent everyone who sleeps nearby from enjoying a good night's sleep. It is uncommon for a partner to have to sleep in a different room or even on a different floor of the house.

Diagnosis

Your doctor may do an evaluation based on how you feel and how you’ve slept in the past. If possible, a bed partner or family member can help you with this.
Breathing and other bodily functions during sleep are frequently monitored overnight in a sleep center as part of an evaluation. Home sleep testing may potentially be an alternative. The following tests can detect sleep apnea:
Nighttime polysomnography During this test, you are connected to equipment that monitors your heart, lung, and brain activity, as well as your breathing patterns, arm and limb movements, and blood oxygen levels as you sleep.
Sleep tests at homed: Doctor may offer you home-based diagnostic tools in order to diagnose sleep apnea. Typically, these tests assess your heart rate, blood oxygen level, airflow, and breathing patterns.
If the results are abnormal, your doctor may be able to recommend a treatment without performing additional tests. Portable monitoring equipment does not detect all cases of sleep apnea, so even if your initial results are normal, your doctor may still recommend polysomnography.

Treatment

Your doctor may only recommend lifestyle changes, such as losing weight and quitting smoking. If you have nasal allergies, your physician will recommend allergy therapy. slumbering on one’s side. If these methods do not alleviate your signs and symptoms, or if your apnea is moderate to severe, there are a few alternative possible therapies. Certain devices can aid in clearing an obstructed airway. In other instances, surgery may be required.

Therapies

  • Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). If you have moderate to severe sleep apnea, using a machine that distributes air pressure through a mask while you sleep could be beneficial. With CPAP (SEE-pap), the air pressure is slightly higher than the air pressure in the room. This keeps the upper airways open and stops apnea and snoring.
Although CPAP is the most prevalent and effective treatment for sleep apnea, some individuals find it inconvenient or uncomfortable. Some people give up using the CPAP machine, but with experience, the majority are able to adjust the mask’s straps for a comfortable and secure fit.
You may need to try multiple masks before finding one that is comfortable. Do not stop using the CPAP machine if you experience difficulties. Consult your physician to determine what adjustments might be made to improve your comfort.
In addition, consult your physician if you continue to snore or if you begin snoring again despite treatment. If your weight changes, the CPAP machine’s pressure settings may need to be modified.
  • additional airway pressure devices: If you continue to have difficulty using a CPAP machine, you may be able to utilize an airway pressure device that automatically changes the pressure while you sleep (auto-CPAP).
  • Dental appliances: Another alternative is to wear a device designed to keep the throat open. CPAP is more consistently effective than oral devices, but oral devices may be simpler to use.
  • Treatment for concomitant medical conditions Central sleep apnea could be caused by problems with the heart or muscles and treating these problems could help.

Surgery

Typically, surgery is a last resort when other treatments have failed. Generally, a minimum three-month trial of other therapy alternatives is recommended prior to surgery. However, it is a viable first option for a small percentage of people with particular jaw structure issues or large tonsils.
Possible surgical options include:
  • Tissue extraction during this treatment (palatopharpyngoplasty), the back of your mouth and the top of your throat are reshaped. Tonsils and adenoids are typically removed as well.
  • If you can't use CPAP or oral devices, radiofrequency ablation could be a way to get rid of the tissues in the back of your throat.
  • Tissue contracture Alternatively: Radiofrequency ablation can be used to reduce the volume of tissue in the back of the mouth and throat. This method may be utilized for mild to moderate sleep apnea.
  • jaw repositioning During this treatment, the jaw is pushed forward relative to the remaining facial bones. This increases the space behind the tongue and soft palate, reducing the likelihood of obstruction. The term for this process is maxillomandibular advancement.
  • Nerve excitation This necessitates surgical implantation of a stimulator for the nerve controlling tongue movement (the hypoglossal nerve). Increased stimulation keeps the tongue in a posture that maintains an open airway. More study is required.
  • Making a new airway (tracheostomy). If other therapies have failed and you have severe, life-threatening sleep apnea, this surgery may be necessary. During this treatment, a hole will be cut in your neck and a metal or plastic breathing tube will be put in.

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    Dr. Issam Alachkar

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    Dr. Issam Alachkar is an European Board certified ENT Consultant with over 20 years of experience. He is an experienced Head and Neck Surgeon with remarkable clinical practice in diagnosing and treating diseases of the ears, nose, sinuses, larynx, mouth and throat and the structures of the neck and face. He is affliated to various medical associations including Inter-American Association of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, American Academy of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery as well as Syrian Society of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery. He has attended many conferences, courses and symposia both local and international setting.
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    Dr. Yahia Kabil

    Specialist ENT Surgeon

    Dr. Yahia Kabil

    Specialist ENT Surgeon
    Dr. Yahia Kabil is a Specialist ENT Surgeon with over 50 years of experience. He is an experienced ENT Surgeon with remarkable clinical practice in diagnosing and treating diseases of the ears, nose, sinuses, larynx, mouth and throat. He is affiliated to various medical associations including Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh and the British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists and Head and Neck Surgeons, U.K. Dr. Kabil has his Postgraduate training with extensive experience in eminent British hospitals in U.K from 1976 to 1998.
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    Dr. Peter Baptista Jardin

    Specialist ENT

    Dr. Peter Baptista Jardin

    Specialist ENT
    Dr. Peter Baptista Jardin is an ENT expert with over 30 years of experience. Additionally, he has an expertise in nasal and sleep apnea surgery performing the first robotic transoral surgery in Spain, 2011, and has performed the only series of hypoglossal nerve stimulation in Spain. Throughout last 25 years, he performed more than 400 surgeries per year including endoscopic sinus surgery, anterior skull base surgery with reconstruction in conjunction with neurosurgery and ophthalmology.
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    Dr. Vivek Sharma

    Specialist ENT Surgeon

    Dr. Vivek Sharma

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    Dr. Vivek Sharma is a highly experienced ENT surgeon with 18 years of experience in the field. He has worked in a variety of hospitals and medical institutions in India and the UAE and has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field of ENT surgery. Dr. Sharma began his career in 2005 at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, where he worked for two years.
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