Sleep apnea

• Published in: American family physician Vol. 81; no. 2; p. 195
• Main Authors: Hensley, Michael, Ray, Cheryl
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Academy of Family Physicians 15.01.2010
• Subjects: Airway management; Compliance; Family Practice - methods; Handbooks; Humans; Hypertension; Medical History Taking - methods; Mortality; Obesity; Polysomnography - methods; Quality of life; Risk factors; Severity of Illness Index; Sleep apnea; Sleep Apnea Syndromes - diagnosis; Sleep Apnea Syndromes - prevention & control; Sleep Apnea Syndromes - therapy; Sleep disorders; Sleep Stages; Sleep Wake Disorders - diagnosis; Sleep Wake Disorders - therapy; United States; Weight control; United States
• ISSN: 0002-838X; 1532-0650

Sleep apnea is the popular term for obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), which is abnormal breathing during sleep that causes recurrent arousals, sleep fragmentation, daytime sleepiness, and nocturnal hypoxemia. * Apnea may be central, in which there is cessation of inspiratory effort, or obstructive, in which inspiratory efforts continue but are ineffective because of upper airway obstruction. * OSAHS affects up to 4 percent of men and 2 percent of women in the United States, with obesity being a major determinant. Likely to be beneficial Nasal CPAP Oral appliances (more effective than no treatment, control appliance, or placebo, but less effective than nasal CPAP at improving symptoms including sleep-disordered breathing) Unknown effectiveness Measures aimed at improving compliance with nasal CPAP Weight loss CPAP = continuos positive airway pressure; OSAHS = obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. Severe OSAHS is defined as severe sleep-disordered breathing (i.e., AHI greater than 30 episodes per hour) plus symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness (e.g., Epworth Sleepiness Scale score of greater than 10; Multiple Sleep Latency Test result of less than five minutes).