Very often, people associate daytime fatigue, drowsiness, irritability, and restless night sleep with a deficiency of vitamins, minerals, sunlight and light. Meanwhile, such signs can signal that a person is progressing a dangerous sleep apnea syndrome. The causes of the pathology are insufficient ventilation of the lungs at night and a low concentration of oxygen in the blood.

The characteristic symptomatic triad of respiratory dysfunction in sleep apnea is snoring, alternating with sudden stops in breathing (more than 10 seconds), interrupted sleep and a feeling of constant daytime impotence.

If any of the relatives have such signs, you should immediately sign him up for a consultation with a doctor (otolaryngologist, somnologist) to prescribe treatment. Otherwise, oxygen starvation of all cells of the body, repeated during numerous attacks of nocturnal suffocation, will inevitably lead to violations of cardiac activity, obstruction of the respiratory organs, as well as mental deviations in human development.

Characteristics of sleep apnea types

Episodic pauses in respiratory movements during sleep are observed in people of any age. If they are single – up to 5 manifestations per hour, and short-term – less than 10 seconds, this indicates the norm. Pathological signs of sleep apnea syndrome are an increase in cases of lack of breathing and uncontrolled closing of the muscle tissues of the larynx for a long time.

Classification according to the causes of development divides the nightly violation of respiratory functions into 3 types:

• Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome manifests itself in pathological changes in the organs of the nasopharynx. It is characterized by loud snoring, periodic short-term contraction of the laryngeal muscles of the respiratory tract. Pulmonary ventilation at this point stops, while respiratory efforts are maintained. As a result, a decrease in oxygen concentration, then interruption of sleep due to the physiological need for an immediate breath.

• The syndrome of the central form of sleep apnea is observed much less frequently. It develops due to violations of neuronal and muscle signaling connections due to respiratory failure (impaired gas exchange) or organic damage to brain cells (hemorrhages, neoplasms). Episodes of respiratory arrest are caused by a temporary partial or complete absence of nerve impulses from the respiratory center of the central nervous system to the muscles. Motor efforts are not carried out (in contrast to the obstructive form of sleep apnea), therefore, during sleep, severe hypoxemia may develop, as a result – sudden death.
• Sleep apnea syndrome of mixed type is characterized by a combination of complexes of simultaneous manifestations of obstructive and central forms of pathological attacks of breath holding. This disease is the most dangerous.

Daytime sleepiness and snoring are usually pronounced in each case of the development of the syndrome.

The severity of the pathology (form of OSAS) is determined only by specialists, depending on the frequency of repeated episodes of respiratory arrest (per hour) according to the apnea and hypopnea index .

The sooner you turn to doctors to diagnose the initial degree of pathology, the more successful the treatment will be.

Symptoms indicating the development of the syndrome

Symptoms indicating the development of the syndrome What is apnea, and how to notice it in time? A person cannot independently determine the presence of the syndrome, because he forgets that he woke up, and also does not hear how loudly he snores. Men are more likely to develop sleep apnea than women. At risk of rapid progression of the disease are people with metabolic disorders, obesity, diabetes, neurological, respiratory and cardiac pathologies, as well as bad habits (drinkers, smokers). Therefore, it is to these categories of relatives and friends that special attention should be paid.

Signs of OSA in adults

The main symptoms that indicate the development of sleep apnea syndrome are as follows:

• loud rolling snoring, interrupted by seconds (minutes) of complete silence, then resumed with renewed vigor;
• sleep superficial, with periodic sharp movements of the limbs;
• during the night, sudden awakenings, arrhythmia, tachycardia;
• possible occurrence of coughing fits, difficulty breathing;
• there is an increase in episodes of nocturnal urination;
• upon awakening, there is suffocation, a feeling of lack of air;
• from early morning, debilitating headaches haunt against the background of increased pressure;
• worrisome feeling of physical impotence and excruciating drowsiness during the day;
• there is a decrease in concentration, deterioration in the possibility of memorization;
• depression, irritability appear;
• an increase in the level of sugar;
• the appearance of heartburn, nausea;
• a decrease in libido and potency develops.

Gradually, there is an increase in body weight and subcutaneous adipose tissue, which leads to an even greater development of the disease.

Symptoms of sleep apnea in childhood

In babies, sleep apnea syndrome is expressed by the following characteristic features:

• loud snoring with silent pauses,
• teeth grinding, drowsiness, fatigue during the daytime,
• predominantly mouth breathing
• coughing fits, shortness of breath,
• restless sleep with twitching of arms, legs
• increased sweating,
• blue (or developing pallor) of the skin of the nasolabial area and the oral mucosa during an attack during sleep,

All of the listed symptoms of the syndrome are similar to the signs of neurological diseases, therefore, in order to conduct correct treatment, it is very important to determine the conditions and prerequisites for the onset of the pathology.

Reasons for the development of sleep apnea syndromes of different types

The factors that cause the formation of obstructive sleep apnea, mixed and central types of sleep apnea differ, since the etiologies of the main diseases that cause respiratory cessation syndromes have little in common. Why sudden seizures appear is of interest to many.

Prerequisites for the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea

The syndrome develops due to the absence (or decrease) of the air flow through the branches of the respiratory tract due to the following pathologies:

• diseases and neoplasms of the nose, larynx (adenoids, cysts, polyps, inflamed tonsils narrow the passages);
• infectious and allergic diseases of the nasopharyngeal cavities (swelling occurs);
• congenital pathologies of the development of the organs of the upper respiratory tract (thinness of the gaps, displacement of the jaws, an increase in the volume of the tongue);
• consequences of muscular obesity (narrowing of the larynx).

Almost always, senile obstructive changes in organ tissues (looseness, loss of elasticity, flabbiness) lead to the appearance of nocturnal respiratory arrests.

Reasons for the formation of obstructive and mixed sleep apnea syndrome

Pathologies arise due to a decrease in muscle tone of the larynx area and are caused by such factors:

• drugs, drugs or alcoholic beverages that help relax the muscles of the larynx;
• untimely transmission of nerve impulses from the center of respiration to the muscles due to neuromuscular pathologies;
• due to softening and lethargy of the muscles of the larynx with thyroid dysfunction.

In some cases, mixed and obstructive types of respiratory disorders occur due to depression of consciousness after operations to remove brain tumors.

Conditions for the appearance of sleep apnea syndrome according to the central type

Prerequisites for the occurrence of destruction of the chain of neural and muscle connections:

• in brain tissues neoplasms, injuries, hemorrhages;
• respiratory arrest due to Ondine’s syndrome;
• pharyngeal collapse .

Inhibition of respiratory functions occurs due to insufficient activity of the nervous system of the central part of the brain, which coordinates the frequency and depth of breathing.

Factors of occurrence of central and mixed types of sleep apnea syndrome

Dysfunction of the respiratory system is formed due to violations of gas exchange processes and blood circulation.

This is due to the following pathologies:

• respiratory failure due to bronchial and lung disease (fibrosis, pleurisy, pneumonia);
• cardiovascular disorders;
• altitude sickness.

In such cases, hypoxemia (a very low concentration of oxygen in the blood) develops rapidly, in which a fatal outcome is possible.

Why do nocturnal breath-holding syndromes occur in infants?

Causes of sleep apnea in infancy:

• difficult childbirth;
• pathology of the development of the respiratory system;
• diseases of the ears and nasopharynx;
• premature birth with low weight (no more than 2.5 kg);
• heart and respiratory failure;
• congenital pathologies of the skull;
• neurological abnormalities;
• allergic reactions to medicines;
• reflux of the gastrointestinal tract.

It is impossible to visually determine all the factors that provoke respiratory arrest during sleep with sleep apnea syndrome. It is necessary to undergo a comprehensive study in a medical institution.

Why You Can’t Refuse Qualified Treatment

The prognosis for complications of the syndrome of recurrent night attacks can become very unfavorable.

1. Even with a mild degree of sleep apnea, the human body does not rest at night, as required to restore energy.
2. People experience physical and emotional overload against the background of oxygen starvation of brain cells, which leads to a decrease in attention.

As a result, there are numerous man-made accidents on roads, factories, ships. In addition, untimely treatment of a severe stage of any disease, which is the main cause of sudden pauses in breathing during sleep, threatens a person with serious pathologies: the development of a heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest due to arrhythmia, and death.

Self-treatment for sleep apnea syndrome is useless and dangerous, because neither traditional herbalists, healers, nor commercial agents selling pills, dietary supplements and dubious devices “for all diseases” have a magical remedy that prevents stopping breathing in a dream. And the use of medicines without a doctor’s prescription can aggravate the manifestations of the pathology, as well as cause new irreversible destructive processes for the body.