Risks Of Sleep Apnea
Have you ever heard of AHI, CPAP, REM Sleep, Fatigue or Snoring? Well, that last one should be the most familiar!
There’s a reason why the slogan of Sleeptopia Inc is “Don’t Ignore the Snore!”
Did you know that 45% of adults snore?
Or 25% of adults disturb their bed partners by constant snoring?
Snoring even affects 27% of children!
So you may be wondering why is snoring all that bad?
Well, in some cases, it isn’t bad, but it can lead to many symptoms like daytime fatigue, morning headaches, high blood pressure, weight gain, dry mouth and sore throat, and difficulty breathing while in various sleep stages. Some of these symptoms are also symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, which is a potential serious sleep disorder. You can check out our video for more information.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is when the muscles that support the soft tissues in your throat, such as your tongue and soft palate, temporarily relax. When these muscles relax, your airway is narrowed or closed, and breathing is momentarily cut off.
So what does all of this mean?
Well, if you know someone or know of someone that snores, they may be experiencing some of the symptoms of Sleep Apnea.
What happens with Sleep Apnea anyways?
Sleep Apnea can lead down a path of therapy!
First, a Home Sleep Test! We make it easy and we offer those services!
You can check out our Home Sleep Testing explanation here.
Sleeptopia is the first in Kansas to offer in-home sleep tests to patients at an affordable price.
We enjoy in-network status with many insurance companies! Call us today to see if we are in-network with yours!
In that home sleep test, we monitor one to two nights of your sleep. We monitor oxygen levels, body positions, sleep cycles, heart rate, and AHI.
What is AHI?
AHI stands for Apnea Hypopnea Index - which in simple terms means that this is calculated throughout the night by taking the amount of periods that your body naturally ceases breathing due to an airway blockage from the soft tissue relaxing in the back of your throat. We take the total number of times that a patient had a lack of activity of breathing and then divide it by the amount of total recorded hours during a home sleep testing session.
See the chart below.
As you can see in the chart above, a normal AHI (amount of times that breathing is cut off during sleep, is 0 to 5 times per hour. Mild sleep apnea is measured at 5 to 15 AHI, Moderate sleep apnea is measured at 15 to 30 times of blockage per hour, and Server is anything above 30 times of ceased breathing per hour.
If the Sleep Test Report comes back with an AHI of 5 or more, the patient qualifies for a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure).
One of the therapy devices we use at Sleeptopia is a CPAP machine. It may sound scary, but no worries. Allow us to put any concerns or questions to rest! To get a CPAP, there are a few things that have to occur. A CPAP machine is a device that has continuous pressure to keep blockage to the airways open. This often solves the issue of snoring. The CPAP machine also helps your body to correct the low levels that may have appeared on the Home Sleep Test Report. This also can help in reduction with the airway blockage.
Have more questions? Check out more of our website for more information about the previous information.