Restful sleep is not only a break from the demands of your everyday life, but also a basic prerequisite for your physical and mental well-being. Unfortunately, many patients are deprived of these restorative properties of sleep. A common cause of reduced sleep quality is snoring (rhonchopathy) or breathing interruptions during sleep (sleep apnoea).
With sleep apnoea, breathing stops repeatedly during sleep. This causes the blood oxygen level to drop briefly. This is followed by an awakening phase (arrousal), which is accompanied by an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Sleep apnoea significantly reduces the quality of sleep and leads to daytime tiredness, difficulty concentrating, irritability and also favours the occurrence of other diseases such as high blood pressure, heart failure and obesity. There are two main types of sleep apnoea:
This is the most common form of sleep apnoea. With OSA, slack muscles in the throat block the airways during sleep, which promotes breathing interruptions. Your body wakes you up briefly to open the airways again. This disrupts the sleep cycle.
This form occurs when the brain does not send the signals to the respiratory muscles correctly. The pauses in breathing are not due to a blockage in the airways. Central sleep apnoea is less common than OSA.
Typical signs that you may be suffering from sleep apnoea are
Breathing interruptions during sleep can not only result in the symptoms mentioned above, but can sometimes even be accompanied by serious health problems - if sleep apnoea is not treated. Common consequences of sleep apnoea are
Those affected often suffer from severe daytime sleepiness due to repeated interruptions in breathing at night. This fatigue can significantly impair memory, concentration and everyday performance.
The pauses in breathing and the resulting lack of oxygen can put a strain on the cardiovascular system. Sleep apnoea is therefore associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmia and strokes.
People with untreated sleep apnoea have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes or find it more difficult to control existing diabetes.
Sleep apnoea can have a significant impact on quality of life. The symptoms can also cause emotional problems such as reduced enjoyment of life and even depression.
We can determine whether you suffer from OSA with the special sleep apnoea screening in our ENT clinic in Frankfurt find out. To do this, we use the modern WatchPAT examination system, which can detect even the slightest changes in vascular tension and oxygen saturation in your blood. The system consists of a small sensor, a finger probe and a wristband.
You carry out the screening yourself at home - in your normal, familiar surroundings. We will provide you with the above-mentioned equipment for the examination (don't worry - we will give you a separate introduction to the handling!)
Before going to sleep, attach the sensor to your chest and place the finger probe on your finger. Place the bracelet on your wrist like a watch. Then try to go about your normal sleep routine.
While you sleep, the WatchPAT stores all the necessary information in the system. In the morning, you remove the sleep apnoea screening device and bring it to us at the practice clinic, where we analyse the collected data.
The interruption index is also known as the apnoea-hypopnoea index or AHI. It indicates how many pauses in breathing (apnoeas) and reduced breathing movements (hypopnoeas) occur per hour during your sleep. This makes it an important measurement for sleep apnoea screening.
Apnoeas are complete pauses in breathing that last at least 10 seconds. There is no recognisable breathing during an apnoea. Hypopnoea, on the other hand, is a reduced breathing movement that is accompanied by a significant decrease in oxygen saturation or awakening.
The interruption index (AHI) is the sum of apnoeas and hypopnoeas per hour of sleep. A higher AHI value indicates a more severe form of sleep apnoea. The severity of sleep apnoea can be classified as follows:
While you sleep, you go through different stages of sleep, which are divided into two main categories: non-REM sleep (NREM) and REM sleep. These sleep stages are often referred to as sleep cycles in sleep medicine. As they play an important role in the diagnosis and understanding of sleep apnoea, they are also examined during sleep apnoea screening at our practice clinic in Frankfurt. This shows us your sleep stages in relation to sleep apnoea:
This is sleep with rapid eye movements, often associated with vivid dreams. At this stage, muscle activity is strongly suppressed and breathing may be shallow or irregular. Sleep apnoea occurs more frequently during REM sleep.
The WatchPAT records the number and lengths of these parameters as part of the sleep apnoea screening so that we can use these values to evaluate the examination.
If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnoea, it is important to take appropriate steps to treat your condition. For example, CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy is possible. This involves the use of a device that maintains a constant air pressure to keep your airways open during sleep.
Sometimes a special Snoring splint off. You can also do something yourself to improve sleep apnoea: if you are overweight, it can help to lose weight.
In some cases, surgery at our practice clinic in Frankfurt can be useful to correct anatomical problems that contribute to sleep apnoea. These include the improvement of nasal breathing, the correction of a sagging soft palate (so-called webbing) and the correction of a sagging and elongated uvula.
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Interrupted breathing during sleep is a serious condition that often goes unrecognised. Sleep apnoea can significantly impair quality of life and lead to long-term health problems. It is important to recognise the signs early and take appropriate measures.
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Snoring can affect your health, but it can also have an impact on your partner's healthy sleep. You should therefore have it checked why you snore. In this article, we explain what treatment is possible and when you need an operation to stop snoring.
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