What is Hypopnea?
Hypopnea ~ sounds like apnea? Well, you’re not wrong. Sleep apnea and hypopnea are in the same category of sleeping conditions and disorders. Those affected by Obstructive Sleep Apnea often experiences hypopneas. Hypopneas are when there is a lower airflow, 30% ventilation reduction, and a desaturation of oxygen. When this happens, there is less oxygen going to the red blood cells throughout the body.
Hypopneas can happen when you’re awake or asleep!
Hypopneas, in more depth, are a disorder of breathing while a person sleeps. This causes the person to experience episodes of breathing more shallow. The hypopnea causes restricted breathing and desaturations of oxygen. If left untreated, there are risks of cardiovascular diseases and conditions along with diabetes.
Knowing the risks, symptoms, and treatments will make it easier to spot a hypopnea when they occur. There are very effective treatments for hypopnea available. Reach out to your primary care physician to learn more about what treatment best fits your lifestyle.
Hypopnea has three types:
Central, Obstructive, & Mixed
Central hypopneas are diagnosed when the air is found to flow less and the breaths are slow.
Obstructive hypopneas are diagnosed when the air flow is lowered, but the breathing patterns are normal.
Mixed hypopneas are diagnosed when both central hypopneas and obstructive hypopneas are recorded or witnessed.
Symptoms
If a person feels extremely tired even after a full night’s rest, that could be caused by hypopneas. Hypopnea is known to cause less oxygen to be carried throughout your body, making it feel as though you had only slept for 2 hours.
Some of the most common symptoms of hypopnea are daytime fatigue, loud snoring, nasal congestion, decreased libido, lack of energy, concentration issues, irritability, mental health declination, waking up tired, morning headaches, disturbances throughout the night, forgetfulness, or waking up choking.
Risk factors
If you are experiencing any of the previously listed symptoms, you may be at risk for untreated hypopnea. There are certain health risks that can increase the severity of your hypopneas. There are also risks for the differing age groups and genders. Some of the risks are more common in men rather than in women, and also an increased risk between the ages of 40-65.
Other medical conditions can present more of a chance of having hypopnea. Some of these medical conditions entail obesity, change in structure of the jaw, hypothyroidism, enlarged tonsils or adenoids in children, smoking, stroke, heart disease, and even some narcotics can increase the risk.
Causes
Some causes for the hypopneas could be extra pounds of fat building up in your neck, causing constricted airways. It could be genetics, age, gender, and body structure. Hypopneas could be occurring due to substances such as smoking, drinking, or even some medications. If you have heart or kidney disease in an advanced state, your neck may build from fluid, making it more difficult to breathe. Another cause could be sleep apnea, due to the similarities and relation.
Sleep Apnea vs Hypopnea
Hypopnea and Sleep apnea are very similar and both share similar symptoms, risks, and outcomes. During sleep apneic events, a person stops breathing entirely rather than hypopneas when a person just breathes more shallowly. Sometimes apneas and hypopneas have the chance of happening at the same time. Research shows that often times, a person will have both sleep apnea and hypopneas, but if a person only has hypopneas and goes untreated, there is a greater chance of developing sleep apnea.
Treatments
Getting a proper diagnosis of what you may be experiencing is the best option. Your doctor may ask you about family history and review your medical file. They may run blood tests or ultrasound imaging to see what may be causing those symptoms.
If you show similar sleep breathing, sleep deficiency, or other sleep condition/disorderly symptoms, the doctor may recommend a sleep study to see how often the breathing patterns stop or change, heart rate, brain activity, oxygen levels, and other vitals. Depending on the score that comes from that sleep diagnostic test, it may show that you need a CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure machine) while you sleep. With a CPAP, you wear a mask over your nose that’s attached to a machine with a hose. It blows air into your nose to keep breathing from slowing while you sleep.
Other changes that can be made are weight loss, exercising, dieting, healthy lifestyle changes, cessation of smoking or drinking, change of cessation of sedatives or other medication related to sleep, positional therapy while sleeping, or other recommendations made by your doctor.
More Information
www.sleepfoundation.org - Hypopnea & Effects
www.healthline.com - Hypopnea
www.webmd.com - Sleep Conditions due to Hypopnea