Sleep Aids, Sleeping Disorders, Treatment, Pills

Overview and Diagnosis

Sleep apnea strikes all groups; even children get it.  But some people are more likely to have it than others.  The typical person with sleep apnea is male, overweight, and over 40, with large tonsils and a neck wider than 17 inches.  Women with sleep apnea have necks that are more than 16 inches.   Sleep apnea is also hereditary; it runs in families.  

There are two forms of the disease, both dangerous to your health, and both treatable with the appropriate equipment and sleep hygiene.  

In the most common type, Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the patient's airway is blocked because the soft tissue at the back of the throat collapses during sleep.  
In the much rarer disorder known as Central Sleep Apnea, on the other hand, the airways are in fine shape but the respiratory control center inside the brain sends garbled signals to the muscles, failing to signal them to breathe.   

Causes and Symptoms

You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly, and wake up often during the night with a sore throat or a feeling that you are choking or gasping for air.   Other signs include daytime drowsiness, morning headaches, a low sex drive, forgetfulness, and irritability.    Sleep apnea sufferers often experience the symptoms of insomnia, even when they sleep eight hours a night.  

You might be able to blame your sleep problems on the shape of your mouth and neck.  Dominic Roca, MD, director of the Connecticut Center for Sleep Medicine at Stamford Hospital, has told the website Web MD (the main source of information for this article) that he believes
The soft tissue of the throat collapses and closes off the air passages because of "physical abnormalities inside the mouth and neck."   This makes breathing irregular and causes the patient to wake up repeatedly during the night.   The chronic fatigue that affects people with sleep apnea is the result of these repeated disruptions of the eight-hour sleep cycle; eight hours of sleep for them is the equivalent of four hours for people without the disease.   

Recent studies also indicate that heavy users of MDMA, a recreational drug also known as ecstasy, are up eight times as likely as non-users to suffer from sleep apnea.  The effect of ecstasy use, in other words, is higher than that of obesity.  

Treatments

As with other sleep disorders, home remedies can help alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnea.  You can stop or reduce your own snoring if  (1) you sleep on your side,  (2) you don't drink or smoke, (3) you don't take sleep medications, and (4) you get treated for allergies or a chronically stuffed nose.  Weight loss also helps reduce sleep apnea, but it doesn't cure the disease.  Some sufferers with a moderate case of sleep apnea can benefit from a dental brace that widens their airways by holding their jaws in place as they sleep.   In Brazil, sleep scientists conducted an experiment with 31 patients who had sleep apnea.  The severity of symptoms decreased after they had spent 30 minutes daily on tongue and facial exercises, which helped widen their airways.

One piece of specialized machinery treats sleep apnea very effectively.  You can sleep every night with an electric mask that applies "continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP),” to broaden your airway and could help you sleep without interruption. A CPAP prescription usually requires a trip to the sleep clinic for an extensive evaluation.  

Side Effects and New Discoveries

A recent study shows an unexpected positive side effect of treatment.  Sleep apnea sufferers are more likely than the rest of the population to be obese, but unlike most overweight people, they have very high levels of leptin, a hormone that sends a signal to the brain that you are full and should stop eating.   According to WebMD's interview with Michael Breus, PhD, a faculty member of the Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and director of The Sleep Disorders Centers of Southeastern Lung Care in Atlanta, leptin and another hormone, ghrelin, direct the brain to feel hungry.   "Ghrelin, which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates appetite, while leptin, produced in fat cells, sends a signal to the brain when you are full."  

However, the effects of leptin in particular are contradictory. High leptin levels seem to cause weight gain among sleep apnea sufferers, while allowing others to lose weight.  According to WebMD, individual people respond differently to leptin, and the brains of people with apnea may not respond to the fullness signal that leptin sends to the brain.  "It's like the body is trying to tell them to stop eating, but their brain just isn't getting the message," Dr. Breus tells WebMD.  "I've had about thirty patients who, when successfully treated for their sleep apnea were able to lose weight -- possibly because they had more energy, so they were more active and they just ate less." When their apnea is treated, their leptin levels drop and they begin to lose weight.