Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Author`s Name
Institution
Apnea is the temporary cessation of breathing (Kapur, 2010). Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a situation where the patient has recurrent episodes of apnea due to closure/narrowing of the pharyngeal airway during sleep. The closure is attributed to decreased tone in the pharyngeal muscles that support the airway during sleep. This leads to hypopneas (partial reductions) and apneas (complete pauses) in breathing. These episodes last at least ten seconds during sleep (Kapur, 2010). The duration of most pauses is between 10 to 30 seconds (Gibson, 2004). The process causes abrupt reduction in blood O2 saturation (Gibson, 2004). The brain reacts by alerting the body humoral mechanism, leading to a brief arousal from sleep. The brief arousal restores the normal breathing. The pattern is persistent, and can occur hundreds of time per night, resulting in fragmented sleep quality. This often culminates in excessive levels of daytime somnolence (Kapur, 2010).
The prevalence of OSA increases from middle ages to older ages. OSA, with resulting daytime somnolence, occurs in at least 2 percent of women, and 4 percent of men (Butt et al., 2012). About 9 percent of women and 24 percent of men have OSA breathing symptoms (Butt et al., 2012). More than 80 percent of adults with OSA remain undiagnosed (Kapur, 2010). In light of the above figures, the problem is widespread, and warrants further insight into the management options. There are various risk factors of OSA. People who are overweight (Body Mass Index >25 to 29.9) or obese (BMI >30) have high chances of developing OSA. Post-menopausal women and middle-aged men are also at a higher risk than the general population (Gibson, 2004). The present study derives i...