Syndrome of apnea. Signs of apnea in children and adults

Dangerous to life and health, repeated apnea attacks require compulsory treatment. Those who got rid of this condition at times reduce the risk of developing heart attacks and strokes.

In a dream, a person does not control his actions and does not remember what is happening to him. Attacks of the insidious disease, called apnea, occur regularly at the moments of sleep. At the same time, the patient does not even suspect that his life and health are in serious danger.

Apnea is a temporary respiratory arrest

The word "apnea" in Greek means "stop, absence, stopping breathing".But not every delay in respiratory movements can be called apnea. As a rule, serious attacks requiring attention and compulsory treatment, last from 10 seconds to 2 - 3 minutes and happen several times per hour. Rare short-term( up to 10 seconds) breathing delay in sleep also requires attention, since they may be the first signs of development of apnea.

IMPORTANT: In the risk zone are predominantly smokers with overweight men over 60 years of age who use alcohol before bedtime or take sleeping pills. Often, people with deformed nasopharynx, a curved nasal septum, enlarged adenoids and glands also suffer from night stops of breathing.

Apnea can be central, obstructive or mixed. In the first case, the blame for delaying breathing in a dream is a disruption of brain function caused by congenital pathologies or traumatic brain injuries. Obstructive apnea occurs with narrowing of the respiratory tract, and mixed can change its shape over time.

There are mild apneas( up to 10 cases per hour), secondary( 10 to 30 cases) and severe( 30 or more seizures).In the most severe cases, the total respiratory arrest time per night is 3 to 4 hours.

Symptoms of apnea

Apnea is a disease that is difficult to diagnose. Most signs of apnea coincide with the signs of other diseases, and the patient himself often even suspects having trouble breathing during sleep.

The correct signs of apnea can be considered:

• strong snoring that prevents households
• long sleep and heavy awakening
• intermittent restless sleep with uneven breathing
• frequent urination at night
• pains in the throat and head that occur during the awakening period
• fatigue, drowsiness,a decrease in the performance of the
• awakening from a feeling of suffocation, the dreams in which there is any restriction of breathing
• gnashing in sleep
• sleepwalking

IMPORTANT:iznakov apnea should see a doctor. Otherwise, progression of the disease is possible, which over time can lead to a critical decrease in the level of oxygen in the body, disorders in the functioning of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, the development of chronic bronchitis or bronchial asthma.

What is the danger of sleep apnea?

The consequences of nocturnal sleep apnea can greatly affect human health. Those who for a long time suffer from respiratory arrest in a dream are familiar:

• cardiac dysfunction, blood pressure jumps
• headaches, dizziness
• permanent fatigue state
• depressive mood
• nightmarish dreams
• appearance of phobias, persecution mania
• problems of sexual nature( unwillingness of intimacy)
• dissatisfaction with their appearance and behavior
• But the main danger of the syndromeApnea consists of the probability of death in sleep from the stopping of breathing.

How does apnea affect the heart and pressure?

• The heart of a person suffering from apnea is heavily congested. This is explained by the fact that with constant awakening from the stops of breathing, the structure of sleep is disturbed. The deep phases necessary for rest and recovery of the body, and do not come. Instead of rest in work, the sympathetic nervous system is turned on and on. The heart rate greatly increases, the pressure rises
• Arterial pressure also rises simultaneously with the overlapping of the airways. To awaken a person and prevent him from perishing from stopping breathing, the body has to very quickly produce a huge amount of adrenaline. The arterial pressure because of this changes dramatically and can reach 250 - 270 units
• At the moment when a person unconsciously tries to inhale air, without the physical possibility to do so, blood from the limbs comes into the heart area and accumulates. Thus, the heart is overloaded and a pressure jump occurs with every apnea attack

How to determine apnea? Diagnosis of sleep apnea

It is impossible to determine an apnea independently. Usually, those who just suspect the presence of this disease come to the doctor. Ask a specialist to consult a family member who has noticed a relative stops breathing in a dream, alternating with loud snoring.

For a full examination of the patient and determination of the number and duration of breath stops, the doctor-somnologist will ask the patient to spend the night in a special laboratory of the clinic. All indications during sleep are recorded on a special device - a polysomnograph. The doctor works with the results. Depending on the severity of apnea, he prescribes treatment.

Severe form of apnea

Severe form of apnea is most dangerous to health. It is characterized by prolonged frequent breathing delays. For 1 hour, there may be 30 or more attacks of apnea, and for the entire period of night sleep - about 500. The total duration of daily respiratory arrest in severe cases reaches 3 to 4 hours.

IMPORTANT: Prolonged attacks of severe apnea can not pass without a trace for health. If you do not take measures to eliminate the syndrome of apnea, after a while the disease will affect the work of all organs and systems of the body.

Surgical treatment in severe forms of apnea

Surgical treatment of apnea is possible only after the establishment of surgical causes of the disease and indications for surgical intervention. To get rid of the apnea syndrome, adenotomy, tonselectromy, correction of the nasal septum, reduction of the rollers in the pharynx, complete removal or cutting off of the tonsils, excision of the soft palate, change in the shape of the lower jaw can be avoided. In cases where the cause of sleep apnea is obesity, it is possible to surgically treat it in order to restore normal sleep without stopping breathing.

During the operation, the patient is immersed in medication sleep. With the help of an endoscope, the doctor determines the exact amount of surgical intervention and starts to work. Success is considered an operation, which results in the normalization of breathing of the patient in a dream 6 to 10 weeks after the surgical treatment. Attacks of apnea. How to cope with bouts of apnea?

Self-treatment with apnea is extremely undesirable, but you can still help yourself with repeated attacks. This will require:

Quit smoking. It is smoking that in most cases provokes a decrease in the tone of the pharyngeal muscles and swelling of the walls of the nasopharynx, which causes a narrowing of the respiratory tract. If you can not get rid of the addictive habit, you need at least to limit the number of cigarettes smoked per day and not to smoke two hours before night sleep.

Learn to fall asleep without sleeping pills. One of the actions of sleeping pills is a decrease in the tone of the pharyngeal muscles, which aggravates the apnea syndrome. Alcohol also has a similar effect.

Lose weight. Facilitate seizures of apnea helps to reduce body weight, even by 7 - 15%.Essential weight loss can significantly improve the situation.

Learn to sleep on your side. Sleep on the back helps the tongue sag while breathing in air. If you change the position of sleep, you can somewhat ease the situation.

Ensure slight headboard elevation during sleep. This can be achieved by lifting the front legs of the bed on a small wooden bar, or by placing under the mattress in the area where the pillow is placed at an angle of 10-15 ° C.

IMPORTANT: If the actions taken did not alleviate the onset of sleep apnea, seek medical attention.

Apnea in children

The main reasons for the development of apnea in children are two: hypertrophy of the tonsils and congenital disorders of the CNS.If from apnea attacks due to an increase in adenoids or glands can affect children of any age, a malfunction of the central nervous system can cause a delay in breathing in a dream mainly in infants.

IMPORTANT: Parents may notice the breathing stops in a child during night or daytime sleep. Children's apnea is sometimes accompanied by reflex contractions of the muscles, a change in skin color. When an attack of apnea in an infant is found, adults should immediately wake him up and gently make a light breast massage. Before the baby falls asleep again, you need to make sure that the room is fresh enough, and the child does not have extra clothes. These factors play an important role in the formation of the structure of sleep.

Any case of childhood apnea should be a signal for immediate medical attention. Usually pediatricians offer to be examined in a hospital. Children suffering from severe forms of the syndrome of apnea are prescribed medication or masked breathing during periods of sleep.

IMPORTANT: Parents who suspect their child of apnea can record a few minutes of a baby's sleep on the video. According to this record, a pediatrician or a children's ENT can accurately determine if the child has breath retardation in a dream. If there is a real danger, the doctor can offer to solve the problem in an operative way.

Symptoms of the apnea syndrome: advice and feedback

Nick: "My husband has a big problem that he does not want to notice. In a dream, his breath is delayed for 20 -60 seconds. I do not sleep at night - I listen. It used to help me when I pushed him, and now he does not react. When I tell my husband about it in the morning, he does not believe. I think already write on the phone »

Sveta:« My husband has extra weight. I think it was he who caused sleep apnea, from seizures which he suffers for more than 5 years. When I followed his diet, forced to eat only dietary food, he lost weight well and apnea for a time receded. Then he abandoned the diet, and it all started anew. They wanted to do the operation already, but the ENT said that it will help for a short while, if not change the lifestyle. "

Oleg :" I do not even want to remember the torment that I experienced in recent years. When I realized that apnea is the enemy of my life and my health, I decided to fight. The last straw was increased pressure and heart problems. I asked for help from an ENT doctor who prescribed me a CIPAP therapy. Now I sleep peacefully, thanks to a special apparatus. It normalizes breathing in a dream. In addition to the fact that I finally started to get enough sleep at night, I also decently lost weight. Now I can say with confidence that for effective treatment of apnea, you need to contact a specialist as soon as possible. "

Those who want to get rid of apnea attacks should understand that they will not have to treat the disease itself, but its cause. Until the factor triggering breath-holding in a dream is eliminated, they will continue on a regular basis.

Video: Treatment of sleep apnea