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Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.
Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They may occur 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnea usually is a chronic condition that disrupts your sleep. When your breathing pauses or becomes shallow, you’ll often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep. As a result, the quality of your sleep is poor, which makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is a leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors usually can't detect the condition during routine office visits. Most people who have sleep apnea don't know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member or bed partner might be the first to notice signs of sleep apnea. The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. In this condition, the airway collapses or becomes blocked during sleep. This causes shallow breathing or breathing pauses. When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud snoring. Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in people who are obese, but it can affect anyone. People who have enlarged tonsil tissues in their throats may have obstructive sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea is a less common type of sleep apnea. This disorder occurs if the area of your brain that controls your breathing doesn't send the correct signals to your breathing muscles. As a result, you'll make no effort to breathe for brief periods. Central sleep apnea can affect anyone. However, it's more common in people who have certain medical conditions or use certain medicines. Central sleep apnea can occur with obstructive sleep apnea or alone. Snoring typically doesn't happen with central sleep apnea. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
What the Epworth Sleepiness Scale is and how to use it The ESS is a self-administered questionnaire with 8 questions. It provides a measure of a person’s general level of daytime sleepiness. It has become the world standard method for making this assessment.The ESS asks people to rate, on a 4-point scale (0 – 3), their usual chances of dozing off or falling asleep in 8 different situations or activities that most people engage in as part of their daily lives, although not necessarily every day. It does not ask people how often they doze off in each situation. That would depend very much on how often they happened to be in those situations. Rather it asks what the chances are that they would doze off whenever they were in each situation. This requires a mental judgment which, it seems, most people are able to make. The total ESS score is the sum of 8 item-scores and can range between 0 and 24. The higher the score, the higher the person’s level of daytime sleepiness. Most people can answer the ESS, without assistance, in 2 or 3 minutes. The total ESS score provides an estimate of their average level of sleepiness in daily life. This can be influenced by many factors, and the ESS does not distinguish which factors have caused any particular level of daytime sleepiness. It is not a diagnostic tool in itself, but is a very useful tool for measuring a person’s sleep-wake health status. There are other methods for measuring sleepiness, but the ESS has several advantages, not the least of which is the fact that it is very cheap to use and very simple to administer to large numbers of people. CPAP vs BiPAP
What is the difference? CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. BiPAP refers to Bilevel or two level positive airway pressure. While CPAP generally delivers a single pressure, BiPAP delivers and inhale pressure and an exhale pressure. Which is better? Each is used for a special purpose. Historically, BiPAP was more expensive than CPAP. It was believe that BiPAP was more comfortable than CPAP. Data to support this belief is weak. There are new technologies that increase comfort with CPAP. BiPAP is sometimes used in patients who have pulmonary lung issues, like COPD. The difference in pressures helps to eliminate extra CO2 carbon dioxide gas from the body. CPAP and BiPAP machines look similar. The attachments are the same. The CPAP machine is designed to extend the stress if you inhale to maintain the airways within the nostril, throat and mouth from closing when you are sleeping. This has been an ideal assist to many individuals who are suffering from sleep apnea. The BiPAP machine might assist just as effectively. Utilizing the identical setup as a CPAP with tubing, masks and a machine, the BiPAP makes use of a special setting. The CPAP makes use of one stress and the BiPAP makes use of two. These two pressures are known as inhalation stress (IPAP) and the exhalation strain (EPAP). The CPAP works because the individual utilizing it inhales, were the BiPAP supplies extra respiration help. They’ve been prescribed for sufferers who’ve congestive coronary heart failure and different severe ailments affecting the center and lungs. Folks with nerve and muscle issues can also profit from the BiPAP machine somewhat than the CPAP machine. The BiPAP is preset with two settings. The stress when inhaling and exhaling is monitored. When the particular person sleeping doesn’t breathe for a sure period of time, the BiPAP will increase stress and forces them to take a breath. There are increased degree CPAP machines that do that as properly. These machines want a BPM (breathes per minute) setting that’s focused to your explicit respiratory wants. Each machine is designed to ensure the customers breathe a set variety of occasions per minute. One of many essential advantages of the BiPAP machine is the strain is decreased because the individual breathes out. This retains them from having to work as exhausting at respiratory and the particular person is ready to have a extra restful sleep. The BiPAP machine is not massive or noisy. They’re designed to make the least quantity of noise potential so you may sleep. The inclusion of a humidifier could also be included with the BiPAP making it the next finish machine than the CPAP. The principle distinction between these two machines would be the wants of the affected person. The one that can assist every particular person with the particular respiration issues they’ve might be primarily based on physician’s examinations and proposals. A sleep test will likely be carried out to permit the physician to see precisely what settings are wanted on the kind of machine required. |