Sleep apnoea

Home >How to stop sleep apnoea

Sleep apnoea is unconsciously holding the breath during sleep. From the perspective of Russian Dr Konstantin Buteyko, airways block during sleep as a result of excessive and heavy breathing.

Breath holds are often repeated many times throughout sleep and each one lasts long enough so that one or more breaths are missed. A standard definition of sleep apnoea is a breath hold during sleep of ten seconds or more. If there are five or more cessations of breathing during one hour, it is termed as clinically significant.

Experience of the Buteyko Method from tens of thousands of people indicate that

1. Every person can avoid needing a CPAP machine
2. If you have been using a CPAP machine, you will be able to come off it safely and sleep better
3. There are improvements to sleep in a few days

The Buteyko Method was discovered by Dr Buteyko in the 1950’s. He recognised that overbreathing results in many respiratory conditions including snoring and sleep apnoea. The body strives to maintain pH and a balance of blood gases. This is disrupted due to heavy breathing and apnoea is a normal reaction to address this imbalance.

CPAP machine

Normal treatments include surgery, dental appliance, and CPAP machine. CPAP is the use of continuous positive airway pressure, which forces the patients airways open during sleep with pressurised air into the throat. Many persons abandon a CPAP machine as it emits a continuous humming noise during the night and involves the wearing of a face mask which many people find uncomfortable.Furthermore, CPAP machine is not addressing the cause of sleep apnoea. It is merely treating symptoms.

The three different types of sleep apnoea are:

• Obstructive is caused by a physical obstruction to airflow and is the most common affecting 84% of cases.
• Central which is recognised by a lack of respiratory effort affects 4% of cases
• Complex is a combination of central and obstructive affects 15% of cases

During sleep, the person with sleep apnoea is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing. Instead this is usually recognised by others witnessing the person stopping breathing during sleep. The condition may persist for many years before being diagnosed. Daytime symptoms include significant fatigue and sleepiness. Other less common symptoms include morning headaches, insomnia, trouble concentrating, mood changes, anxiety or depression, decreased sex drive, increased urination, frequent heartburn and heavy night sweats.

Obstructive sleep apnoea:

(OSA) affects an estimated 84% of cases and is characterised by the airways collapsing or relaxing during sleep thus causing obstruction. In OSA, the throat is sucked closed during sleep. If there is a partial closure, snoring results. If there is complete blockage, OSA results.

Symptoms include loud thunderous snoring interspersed by holding of the breath and restless sleep. Loud snoring itself is not necessarily an indicator of sleep apnoea. What is more significant is if snoring stops for a period of time while the chest struggles to try and draw air in. Typically, the next breath drawn in is a loud gasp.

Who are more prone to sleep apnoea?

• Men
• As one gets older
• If one is overweight
• If one snores
• If structural characteristics are present

Symptoms and conditions associated with sleep apnoea include low blood oxygen and sleep deprivation and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stroke, arrhythmias and diabetes.

For information on our courses for snoring and sleep apnoea, please freecall: 1800 931 935 or Email info@snoring.ie