Hypopnea Causes Sleep Disorders
Sleep specialists maintain that hypopnea can cause sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and can be hereditarily passed from generation to generation. Hypopnea is a condition that causes arrested breathing when a person sleeps. People who suffer from this condition often have obstructive sleep apnea. OSA has been known as a precursor of a host of health problems like heart conditions, diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
A father, Adam Amdur, was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea even though he believes he has suffered from the condition for most of his life. He also recognized sleep apnea symptoms in his daughter while she was a toddler which prevented her from normal daytime functioning.
Obstructive sleep apnea causes a decrease of air flow while a person is sleeping due to the narrowing or block of the airway. The obstruction is usually in the pharynx or upper airway therefore creating a collapse of the throat muscles.
Amdur says that his ancestors had sleep apnea and knowing the danger of the condition, he is seeing to it that the future generation will have a changed outlook towards this and seek medical attention and treatment.
Dr. Nancy Yuan who is a pediatric pulmonologist and medical director of the sleep center at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford University explains that heredity can affect sleep function in many ways. For instance, hereditary can cause someone to be overweight, to acquire neuromuscular allergies, and to develop a facial structure that may increase risk of breathing disorders.
Hypopnea is another condition that should be given attention. Breathing with hypopnea is shallower and slower than usual. The difference between hypopnea and sleep apnea is that sleep apnea results in a total stop in breathing whereas hypopnea does not. Just like sleep apnea, hypopnea causes sleep disruption and affects quality of sleep. Due to the lack of oxygen going to the brain, hypopnea can cause medical issues if left untreated.
Hypopnea can cause spikes in oxygen level. Symptoms of hypopnea are headaches, irritability and fatigue. A person with this condition will have long periods of loud snoring and a few seconds of silence. When this occurs the person will feel that he or she lacks sleep and will be constantly sleepy. Productivity and general quality of life will be greatly affected. Hypopnea can lead to the development of other sleep disorders like insomnia.
Just like sleep apnea, causes for hypopnea include alcohol intake, age, and obesity, smoking and physical obstruction of the airways. There are several treatment options and this includes therapy that is also used for sleep apnea. The CPAP machine can be used to force oxygen into the airways resulting in continuous air flow to the brain. Surgical removal of the obstruction can also be resorted to free the air passage. Hypopnea needs to be diagnosed and the proper treatment to be applied. This condition will cause a host of other medical problems if left unattended.
