Health Tips

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

To the ladies: have you been annoyed or even kept awake at night by your husband's heavy snoring? He might be having obstructive sleep apnoea!

DECIPHERING MEDICAL JARGON Apnoea: a- lack of; -pnoea related to breathing. A (temporary) cessation of breathing for >10 seconds.

As mentioned yesterday, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is commonly associated with obesity. This happens because the airway collapses during sleep. In obese individuals without any structural abnormalities of the airways, excess fat around the mouth and throat weighs down on the muscles and requires them to put in more effort in maintaining the airways. This might not be noticeable when the person is awake, but during sleep the muscles relax, leading to blockage of the airways and subsequently OSA.

The STOP-BANG questionnaire is a quick screening tool for OSA. If you score more than 2 points, you are at significant risk of OSA and should consult a doctor for further advice. Optimising your OSA condition can be beneficial in various ways. Though it sounds harmless, OSA is actually a major reason for sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness in obese people. Quality of sleep is also affected, and this can lead to memory and intellectual impairment in the long run. If you have poor sleep and wake up as tired as you went to bed, chances are that you would also be bad-tempered throughout the day. 

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Written by

Dr Leonard Goh

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