Become a member

X
Quick Registration


Full Registration Benefits -

Free Homepages for Doctors

Free Homepages for Hospitals

Free Homepages for Medical Conference

Free Homepages for NGO's

Personal Health Record Creation

Access to all Medical Slides

Access to all Jobs & Products Sale

Custom Search
Explore Medindia
Medindia » Consumer Health » Health Information » Sleep Disorders: A Prelude - Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Sleep Disorders: A Prelude

Obstructive sleep apnea ( OSA )
RSS Feeds   Text 
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition where breathing comes to a stop during sleep. This is due to an obstruction in the airways caused by laxity and deposits of fat in the tissues.

In this condition, breathing is either interrupted or may even stop during sleep. This can occur several times during sleep, as a result of which repeated arousals from sleep or even a full awakening from sleep occurs. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by repetitive upper airway obstruction during sleep as a result of narrowing of the respiratory passages.

Patients suffering sleep apnea feel sleepy during the day as their nocturnal sleep is constantly interrupted.

Repeated interruptions in breathing causes low levels of oxygen in the blood (hypoxemia), which can be harmful to both the heart and the brain.

Patients with the disorder are most often overweight, with associated infiltration of fat around the airway (peripharyngeal). When a person is awake, the airway muscle tone helps to keep the airways functioning normally. Decreased airway muscle tone during sleep and the pull of gravity decreases the airway size, thereby decreasing the air flow during respiration. This results in the patient struggling to breathe and is therefore aroused from sleep.

Share it!
Comment & Contribute
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions 		  
If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
X
Related Links
• Sleep Hygiene
• Sleep Disorder : Periodic Limb Movement
• sleep disorder : Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
• Sleep Disorder : Sleep Disturbances In Women
• Sleep Disorder : Restless Legs Syndrome
• Sleep Disorder : Narcolepsy
• Sleep Disorder : Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Sleep Disorder : Insomnia
• Learn about sleep
• Epworth Sleepiness Scale
Total Members - 62188
Support Groups - 445
Login  Join Now
Medwonders Health Network
Citing this Health Article
The information on Medindia is factual, unbiased and authentic. If you find the content useful - PLEASE INCLUDE A LINK TO THIS PAGE.

Highlight the text, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
Sleep Disorder - Complete Medindia Resources
Click Here To View Obstructive Sleep Apnea- Animation
Click Here To View Obstructive Sleep Apnea- Animation
News on Sleep Disorders: A Prelude
* Severity of Sleep Apnea Could Predict Diabetes
* 'Nervous' Prince William Unable To Sleep Before Royal Wedding
* Sleep Longer to Prevent Weight Gain
* 'Orphan' Sleep Drug may Fight Cancer
* Sleep Disordered Breathing Increases Cancer Mortality Risk
Total News Item 898
Read More
Are you a member of Facebook? Become a fan of Medindia and get breaking news delivered to your Facebook page.