People with severe apnoea can experience these blockages multiple times throughout the night (sometimes as often as every two minutes!).
Esther adds: “OSA affects up to 23% of the adult population and 5% of children, but most people don’t know they have it. This is particularly true for women, who are less likely to go to the doctor because they snore – which is one of the common OSA symptoms. They may seek help because they feel tired or low, but these feelings are often dismissed by women themselves or even misdiagnosed by doctors as symptoms of depression or menopause, and sleep apnoea isn’t considered.”
What happens during sleep apnoea?
The most common form of sleep apnoea is when the muscles in the throat excessively relax, as detailed above, which is known as obstructive sleep apnoea.
Central sleep apnoea, however, occurs when your brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing, while some people experience complex sleep apnoea syndrome – which means that they experience both obstructive sleep apnoea and central sleep apnoea.
What are the symptoms?
“Common symptoms of sleep apnoea are snoring – or waking up occasionally gasping or choking,” says Professor Villegas. “At first, you may not be aware of having these symptoms, which are often noticed first by a partner or family member. Other noticeable symptoms include feeling tired during the day or waking up in the morning feeling unrefreshed. Irritability, brain fog, depression or lack of concentration can also be common symptoms, and the lack of proper sleep might result in being more accident-prone than usual.”
When the breathing blockages happen, your brain pulls you out of deep sleep into either a lighter sleep or total wakefullness to get you breathing properly again. If your brain is doing that every two minutes, you can imagine the toll it takes on your daily energy levels – which is why you might find yourself feeling irritable in the day, or having difficulty concentrating.
Why does it happen?
There are many, many causes of the common sleep disorder but some of the main links include being overweight, smoking, taking medication with a sedative effect (like a sleeping pill), a deviated septum (the main bone in your nose). Being male also ups your chances of having sleep apnoea.