A potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. Risk factors include age and obesity. It’s more common in men. Symptoms include snoring loudly and feeling tired even after a full night’s sleep. Treatment often includes lifestyle changes, such as weight loss, and the use of a breathing assistance device at night, such as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. More than 200,000 US cases per year are diagnosed. Treatable by a medical professional, Requires a medical diagnosis, Lab tests or imaging often required, Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong.
Symptoms
- Requires a medical diagnosis
- Symptoms include snoring loudly and feeling tired even after a full night’s sleep.
- People may experience:
- Sleep: excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, nightmares, sleep deprivation, or snoring
- Respiratory: episodes of no breathing, breathing through the mouth, or loud breathing
- Also common: depression, dry mouth, dry throat, fatigue, headache, irritability, mood swings, or weight gain
Treatments
- Adenoid removal
- Airway management
- Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
- Palatoplasty
- Physical exercise
- Tonsillectomy
- Treatment often includes lifestyle changes, such as weight loss, and the use of a breathing assistance device at night, such as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.
- Weight loss
