How Is Sleep Apnea Diagnosed?

Diagnosis of sleep apnea is not simple because there can be many different reasons for disturbed sleep. Several tests are available for evaluating sleep apnea.

Polysomnography is a test that records a variety of body functions during sleep, such as the electrical activity of the brain, eye movement, muscle activity, heart rate, respiratory effort, air flow, and blood oxygen levels. These tests are used both to diagnose sleep apnea and to determine its severity.

Sleep Apnea Is No Joke

Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by a blockage of the airway, generally when the soft tissue in the back of the throat closes during sleep. In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two.

With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality. Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences.

Going untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches.

Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes.

Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.