What is OSAS?
Influence of OSAS
OSAS (Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome) occupies the highest proportion of sleep-disordered breathing. Loud snoring and apnea represent it during sleep. To this the patient cannot sleep well and feel drowsiness during the daytime leading to lose of concentration. Also it slows down the recovery from fatigue, affecting the autonomic nervous system.
Logic of OSAS
OSAS occurs when a muscle located in the oropharynx area (Soft palate & Tongue) relaxes and drops causing obstruction in the airway while asleep. Personal with high obesity and older age tend to have a higher chance of OSAS. Although the obstructed airway may not be fully clasped the narrowed airway will cause the airway to vibrate and make sounds (snoring). It is diagnosed as SAS when a patients “breathing stops for 10sec or longer” or when “Hypopnea wit low oxygen level” occurs 5 times or more per hour.
Difficult for patient to notice
Since SAS occurs during a sleep it is difficult for patients to notice them selves and most likely to be noticed from surroundings first. The symptoms SAS will contain melancholy, irritation, frequent urinate on during night, and high blood pressure with drowsiness. In most case patients don’t know which department to go to.*1
What is OSAS?
SAS and complication
Many of SAS patients also suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and/or cerebral hemorrhage they might be caused by SAS.
Although, SAS may be causing these lifestyle-related diseases it may not be noticed since it has no conspicuous obvious symptoms. In particular, since obesity is mutually related with SAS, when an obese patient complains about a lifestyle-related disease, care must be taken to check if SAS is causing the disease.
In recent years, relationship between SAS and lifestyle-related diseases such as cerebral hemorrhage and heart disease has been becoming noticed.
Apnea can lower blood oxygen level and raise the pulse frequency while asleep. This become a burden on the patient’s body and it has been confirmed that if he or she is left in such a condition, probability of a heart disease such as myocardial infarction will rise by 20% in a couple of years*2, and the risk of cardiac insufficiency appearance will be as 2.4 times as a healthy person.
Also, reduction of the blood oxygen level and frequent awakening due to SAS causes the sympathetic nerve to get excited and leadd to high blood pressure. Appearance of high blood pressure with a patient of SAS is said to be as 1.4 to 2.9 times as a healthy person. Influence on psychological disorders such as melancholy has been also reported, and complication with various diseases should be considered.
Bibliography
*1 “Kaimin Kazoku no Susume” Soichiro Miyazaki
*2 Source: Marin JM, et al:Lancet. 2005 Mar 19-25:365(9464):1046-53.
*3 Source: EYAL SHAHAR et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001.163:19-25
*4 Source: Peppard PE, Young T,Palta M,Skatrud; J. N Eng J Med 342:1378-1384,2000
*5 Source: Amir Sharafkhaneh, et al:SLEEP 2005;18(11):1405-1411
