Snoring, also known as snoring, is a common sleep phenomenon. When it comes to snoring, everyone thinks it's normal, after all, most people snore, especially male friends. For example, survey data suggest that snoring occurs in nearly 50 percent of the population and is common in both sexes, although overall snoring is significantly higher in males than in females (55.9 versus 31.8 percent) [1].
Of course, snoring is certainly not a good sign, in addition to affecting the sleep of others, for yourself, it can also be a sign of certain diseases or conditions, such as sleep apnea syndrome, let's talk about it below.
01, What is sleep apnea syndrome?
Although snoring is commonplace, it is understandable if it is caused by exhaustion or physical discomfort, but if you snore every day, or even if you have the kind of "sudden stop breathing" that many people describe, you should be aware of it, because it is an obvious medical condition, which is sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a sleep disorder in which breathing stops during sleep [2], and its pathogenesis is shown in the figure below, in which the respiratory tract narrows due to obesity and other factors, resulting in poor breathing, which leads to a decrease in oxygen intake, which is typically manifested by loud snoring, body twitching, or arm shaking.
This disease should not be underestimated, and it is generally believed that sleep apnea can lead to sleep defects, fatigue and other poor sleep quality. So what are the dangers of sleep apnea?
02, What are the dangers of sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea has a much deeper danger than you can imagine...
1. Induce cardiovascular disease. Due to sleep apnea, the pressure in the body is suddenly imbalanced, and the negative pressure in the chest cavity increases, which leads to damage to the vascular endothelium, which further induces atherosclerosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and increases the risk of sudden death [3].
2. Harm the brain and cause stroke. The brain is very susceptible to hypoxia, for example, there is a golden four minutes in first aid, which is to deal with the problem of cerebral hypoxia caused by cardiac arrest. Sleep apnea can also cause a temporary lack of oxygen to the brain, which can further lead to damage to the lining of the cerebral blood vessels. In particular, recurrent sleep apnea that occurs repeatedly and for long periods of time can affect the cerebral blood supply and induce and aggravate stroke [4].
In addition, studies have found that sleep apnea, for example, is related to diabetes and asphyxia.
So how do we find out we have sleep-disordered breathing?
03, How can I tell if I have sleep-disordered breathing?
The first is the focus of the ego, such as the perception of such disorders from feedback from others. Living in the same room, you can learn about your sleep through feedback from your roommates and family members, and of course, you can also try to use your mobile phone to record regularly for self-analysis.
However, for most people, the judgment of sleep-disordered breathing may not be very accurate, so we have to mention another more scientific and accurate way - blood oxygen monitoring. Oxygen monitoring is an indirect but very effective method. The principle is that once apnea occurs, it leads to a lack of oxygen, so the oxygen saturation in the blood decreases, so we only need to monitor the change in oxygen saturation to know if our snoring constitutes sleep apnea.
(Hemoglobin saturation curve)
The principle is not complicated. The color vividness of blood is directly related to blood oxygen saturation, and there is a certain proportional relationship. Therefore, the oxygen saturation can be inferred by monitoring the blood color.
At present, the most common method of oxygen saturation measurement is to measure the level of spo2 (Peripheral oxygen saturation), because peripheral blood is easier to detect. Our skin is translucent and easily translucent, so it is possible to detect blood by emitting light from a simple device, and then calculate the oxygen saturation based on its reflection. Because blood oxygen saturation and health are closely related, it has always been the focus of clinical testing.
04. How to deal with this sleep-disordered breathing?
What should we do about this sleep-disordered breathing?[5]
Losing weight is a priority.
Obesity is the most common cause of sleep apnea, so maintaining a balanced diet and exercising are the most direct ways to reduce the risk.
If sleep-disordered breathing is severe, you should go to the hospital immediately for a check-up and solve it by mechanical ventilation or surgery.
In any case, sleep apnea syndrome is a common but not negligible phenomenon, and if it is severe, it can cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which is an important threat to health, and you must pay attention to it.
[1] Hu Qinglei, Du Cuiping, Yang Yang, Bai Sujuan.Epidemiological investigation of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in people over 20 years old in Putuo District, Shanghai[J].Chinese Journal of Eye and Otolaryngology,2017,17(01):49-54.
[2] Olson E J, Moore W R, Morgenthaler T I, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome[C]//Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Elsevier, 2003, 78(12): 1545-1552.
[3] Javaheri S. Central sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in heart failure: prevalence, impact, and treatment[J]. Sleep, 1996, 19(suppl_10): S229-S231.
[4] Yaggi H K, Concato J, Kernan W N, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea as a risk factor for stroke and death[J]. New England Journal of Medicine, 2005, 353(19): 2034-2041.
[5] Salman L A, Shulman R, Cohen J B. Obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, and cardiovascular risk: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management[J]. Current Cardiology Reports, 2020, 22(2): 6.