Live Life Team
Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea
If any of the symptoms are being experienced, you should consult the general physician. Your GP will perform a physical examination and enquire about the symptoms being faced. A series of tests are performed, which also include a blood pressure test and a blood test. These tests are done to eliminate all the other possible reasons for the occurrence of the symptoms.
Tests at a sleep clinic – if the diagnosis of OSA has been confirmed, the patient will be referred to a sleep centre, to carry out specific tests. Sleep centres are special clinics that provide treatment to people with sleep disorders. One f the initial tests is t keep the patient in a dark room in the daytime, and asking him to relax, trying to evaluate the time it takes him to go to sleep. Another test is to ask the patient to keep awake for as long as possible. If the patient goes to sleep quickly in the first test and is unable to be awake for long in the second test, the person does have OSA. There are several other ways in which they assess the range of the patient’s daytime sleepiness.
Studying the patient while he is asleep – in this test the patient is asked to sleep for a night in the clinic so that he can be observed by making use of a video camera. Two pieces of appliances are used to observe the body during sleep. They are:
Oximeter – a small feeler attached to the finger that sends out the pulses of light. The computer attached to this feeler examines the pattern of absorption of the pulses by the blood, enabling to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood at any point of time.
Polysomnography – a number of electrodes kept on several parts of the body, connected to a computer, which measures the breathing rate, the phases of sleep experienced, the quantity of oxygen in the blood, heart rate and pressure of the blood.
One the above mentioned tests have been carried out, the clinic staff has a clear idea if you have OSA, and is able to identify its extent easily. Higher the number of episodes of hypopnoea and apnoea in an hour, more severe is the OSA. OSA has been classified into the following types on the basis of its severity:
Mild OSA – around 5 – 14 episodes in one hour
Moderate OSA – around 15 – 30 episodes in one hour
Severe OSA – anything more than 30 episodes in one hour
Treatment of Sleep Apnoea
OSA can be treated in the following few ways:
Changes in lifestyle – mild and moderate cases of OSA can easily be treated by making certain changes in the lifestyle of the person. This can be done by
Avoiding the intake of tranquillisers and sleeping pills
Loosing excess weight
Stopping smoking
Avoiding the consumption of alcohol especially in the evenings
Making a habit of sleeping on your side, than on your back
Continuous Positive airway pressure (CPAP) – if the condition is such that it does not react to the above mentioned measures, the CPAP is advised.
Inter–oral devices – tiny devices that are kept in the mouth to keep the throat open while the patient is asleep. They are generally recommended for people who cannot bear using CPAP.
Some other ways of treating OSA include:
Stimulants
Surgery
Playing the didgeridoo
