Snoring is seen in 30-40% of adults in the community. However, snoring is not always innocent, sometimes it can be a symptom of even life-threatening Sleep Apnea.
Sleep apnea is responsible for most deaths due to cardiovascular disease. Symptoms of sleep apnea syndrome include:
Loud snoring
daytime sleepiness
panting or feeling like you’re suffocating during sleep
forgetfulness
difficulty concentrating
headaches
· loss of sexual desire
· hypertension
dry mouth in the morning
Sleep apnea syndrome is closely related to many heart diseases. Sleep apnea can be fatal. They carry an increased risk in terms of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (such as myocardial infarction and stroke), hypertension, heart failure, heart rhythm disorders and depression.
Hypertension: More than half of patients with sleep apnea syndrome have hypertension. As the severity of sleep apnea increases, the frequency of hypertension also increases. With the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea syndrome, the blood pressure medications used by the patients usually start to become excessive, the dosage of the blood pressure medication of the patients is sometimes reduced and sometimes completely discontinued.
Heart attack and coronary artery disease. Sleep apnea syndrome was found in 35-65% of patients who had a heart attack. When the 5-year survival time of patients with sleep apnea compared to those without sleep apnea was examined, it was found that there was a 6.5-fold difference between death rates.
Arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder): Patients with sleep apnea syndrome often have a heart rhythm disorder.
Heart failure: If sleep apnea syndrome is not treated, it can lead to heart failure. Sleep apnea also complicates the treatment of heart failure. A separate sleep disorder called Cheyne Stokes breathing is also seen due to heart failure.
Pulmonary hypertension (Pulmonary hypertension): Pulmonary hypertension usually develops due to chronic bronchitis. However, sleep apnea syndrome also causes pulmonary hypertension. It is thought that the repetitive decrease in blood oxygen level during the night is responsible for this disease.
How is the diagnosis made? Those who have continuous and severe snoring, those who are noticed to have snoring during sleep, those who wake up in the mornings tired and unable to sleep despite having slept for a sufficient amount of time should consult a physician. After the clinically specialist physician talks to the person and their relatives about the complaints and performs the examination, “polysomnographic examination” should be performed in the sleep disorders center or laboratory in order to make a definitive diagnosis and determine the severity of the disease in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea.
