The following excerpt is a section
from my senior thesis explaining some of the background of obstructive sleep
apnea. OSA is a very interesting disease with greater ramifications than what
we would consider poor sleep. Those who suffer from it go to great lengths to
find lasting treatment and for good reason. Feedback is more than welcome.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a
condition that can manifest itself into a great number of comorbidities. The
most common associated diseases are hypertension, cardiovascular disease and
kidney damage (Gupta, 2014; Poonit 2018). Many of the comorbidities of OSA are
most tightly linked to the destruction of normal sleeping patterns in the
patient. Sleep is how the body heals and protects itself against greater damage
in the future, without this process working efficiently things are bound to go
wrong. Even though it’s one of the bodies most important processes, it’s hard
for those suffering from OSA to identify their symptoms to begin with. It’s
been found that many people who suffer from OSA are unaware of their condition
and even after diagnosis, daytime-sleepiness commonly persists to the point of
encroaching on their everyday life (Waldmen et al, 2020). The difficulty in
diagnosis, paired with the severity of comorbidities are what make obstructive
sleep apnea such a destructive disease. Sufferers of the disease are overtaken
by a constant malaise that can feasibly make it harder to fix the root of the
issue in the first place; resulting in a vicious cycle of mental and physical
decline. Due to the enhanced risk for cardiovascular and other related
diseases, patients with OSA are subjected to potentially much higher healthcare
costs than those without OSA or those who can actively manage the condition
(Kao et al. 2015). For this reason, treatment of OSA is paramount to nipping
other conditions that may arise down the road in the bud. If untreated, it can
only lead to greater health issues which in turn accrue greater cost of
healthcare for the individual and insurance agencies.
Gupta, M. A.,
& Knapp, K. (2014). Cardiovascular and psychiatric morbidity in obstructive
sleep apnea (OSA) with insomnia (sleep apnea plus) versus obstructive sleep
apnea without insomnia: A case-control study from a nationally representative
US sample. PLoS ONE, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090021
Kao, L.-T.,
Lee, H.-C., Lin, H.-C., Tsai, M.-C., & Chung, S.-D. (2015). Healthcare
service utilization by patients with obstructive sleep apnea: A
population-based study. PLoS ONE, 10(9). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137459
Poonit, N.
D., & Cai, X. H. (2018). The relation and mechanism of kidney injury in
obstructive sleep apnea: A literature review. Sleep and Biological Rhythms,
16(2), 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-018-0146-x
Waldman, L.
T., Parthasarathy, S., Villa, K. F., Bron, M., Bujanover, S., & Brod, M.
(2020). Understanding the burden of illness of excessive daytime sleepiness associated
with obstructive sleep apnea: A qualitative study. Health and Quality of
Life Outcomes, 18(1), 128. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-020-01382-4
Hey!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. It seems that obstructed sleep apnea is a very common syndrome in the population with over 3 million cases each year. It seems that it is common for middle age men, in which they have a partial or complete collapse of the upper airway. As recent advances in medication have occurred, it allowed for early recognition and diagnosis of the syndrome. When looking at the diagnosis and severe symptoms, including excessive daytime somnolence and the ability to cause cardiovascular mortality. It seems that there are some treatments that are currently present for Obstructive sleep apnea including continuous positive airway pressure. Nasal CPAP has been the most common symptom in alleviating sleep apnea. The technology allows the individual to maintain upper airway patency by allowing for pressure to enter at a critical value. Although the syndrome can not be totally alleviating in which they are required to use the device for almost their entire life, it provides them with “comfortable sleep.” Hopefully, with medical advances, we can possibly help these patients.
Spicuzza, L., Caruso, D., & Di Maria, G. (2015, September). Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and its management. Retrieved November 07, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4549693/
This is a very interesting study and it is one that I had never heard of before. It makes me want to research more about this because I wonder how much sleep they are losing with this issue. If it closes their upper airway then is there possibly positions that they could sleep in that may alleviate some stress on their body for a slightly improved amount of sleep? I also wonder how wearing the device or medications that they take affect other parts of their body or their social interactions? It may be something that not a lot of people want to disclose to other people so are more people going to be willing to try different experimental medications to yield improved results? It is very sad to see that it is difficult to diagnose and I am glad I am more aware of it now. Thank you for this post and I hope to see further research on this topic so that people can begin to benefit from it and lead more normal and comfortable lives.
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