Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type of sleep apnea and is caused by complete or partial obstructions of theupper airway. It is characterized by repetitive episodes of shallow or paused breathing during sleep, despite the effort to breathe, and is usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. These episodes of decreased breathing, called "apneas" (literally, "without breath"), typically last 20 to 40 seconds.
Individuals with OSA are rarely aware of difficulty breathing, even upon awakening. It is often recognized as a problem by others who observe the individual during episodes or is suspected because of its effects on the body. OSA is commonly accompanied withsnoring. Some use the term obstructive sleep apnea syndrome to refer to OSA which is associated with symptoms during the daytime. Symptoms may be present for years or even decades without identification, during which time the individual may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance. Individuals who generally sleep alone are often unaware of the condition, without a regular bed-partner to notice and make them aware of their symptoms.
As the muscle tone of the body ordinarily relaxes during sleep, and the airway at the throat is composed of walls of soft tissue, which can collapse, it is not surprising that breathing can be obstructed during sleep. Although a very minor degree of OSA is considered to be within the bounds of normal sleep, and many individuals experience episodes of OSA at some point in life, a small percentage of people have chronic, severe OSA.
Many people experience episodes of OSA for only a short period. This can be the result of an upper respiratory infection that causes nasal congestion, along with swelling of the throat, or tonsillitis that temporarily produces very enlarged tonsils. The Epstein-Barr virus, for example, is known to be able to dramatically increase the size of lymphoid tissue during acute infection, and OSA is fairly common in acute cases of severe infectious mononucleosis. Temporary spells of OSA syndrome may also occur in individuals who are under the influence of a drug (such as alcohol) that may relax their body tone excessively and interfere with normal arousal from sleep mechanisms.
We researched this topic for you and found the following best online resources. They are categorized into basic, advanced, and research level based on the extent of information you need. You will be taken to the respective websites by pressing on the links below.
Basic information:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/understanding-obstructive-sleep-apnea-syndrome web md obstructive sleep apnea explained
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obstructive-sleep-apnea/home/ovc-20205684 mayoclinic overview
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea national heart lung brain institute what is sleep apnea?
http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/obstructive-sleep-apnea university of marylnd medical center obstructive sleep apnea
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sleep-apnoea/pages/introduction.aspx nhs uk obstructive sleep apnea
http://www.healthline.com/health/sleep/obstructive-sleep-apnea health line obstructive sleep apnea
http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/apnea.html kids health obstructive sleep apnea
https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pulmonary-disorders/sleep-apnea/obstructive-sleep-apnea merck manuals(professional version) obstructive sleep apnea
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/neurological_institute/sleep-disorders-center/disorders-conditions/hic-sleep-apnea cleveland clinic obstructive sleep apnea
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/sleep-apnea.htm help guide sleep apnea
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/sleep-apnoea better health sleep apnoea
https://www.verywell.com/obesity-and-obstructive-sleep-apnea-2509669 very well obesity and obstructive sleep apnea
Advanced information:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/295807-overview medscape obstructive sleep apnea
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/178633.php medical news today sleep apnea: causes, symptoms and treatments
http://patient.info/doctor/obstructive-sleep-apnoea-syndrome-pro patient obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome
https://web.stanford.edu/~dement/apnea.html stanford obstructive sleep apnea
http://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/1115/p2279.html obstructive sleep apnea lyle d. victor, m.d., oakwood hospital, dearborn, michigan am fam physician. 1999 nov 15;60(8):2279-2286
http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/1_99/0004.html aetna obstructive sleep apnea in adults
https://www.guideline.gov/summaries/summary/47893/practice-guidelines-for-the-perioperative-management-of-patients-with-obstructive-sleep-apnea-an-updated-report-by-the-american-society-of-anesthesiologists-task-force-on-perioperative-management-of-patients-with-obstructive-sleep-apnea practice guidelines for the perioperative management of patients with obstructive sleep apnea: an updated report by the american society of anesthesiologists task force on perioperative management of patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
Research:
http://bmcpulmmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2466-13-10 prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in asian adults: a systematic review of the literature by aibek e mirrakhimov et al., bmc pulmonary medicine201313:10 doi: 10.1186/1471-2466-13-10
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ije/2010/759509/ swetha bopparaju and salim surani, “sleep and diabetes,” international journal of endocrinology, vol. 2010, article id 759509, 9 pages, 2010. doi:10.1155/2010/759509
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2014.00058/full original research article front. neurol., 29 april 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2014.00058 volumetric brain morphometry changes in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: effects of cpap treatment and literature review by nelly t. huynh et al.,
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2012.00007/full review article front. neurol., 30 january 2012 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00007 sympathetic and catecholaminergic alterations in sleep apnea with particular emphasis on children by fahed hakim, david gozal and leila kheirandish-gozal
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=pmc3857239&blobtype=pdf zeng j, wei m, li t, chen w, feng y, et al. (2013) risk of obstructive sleep apnea in parkinson’s disease: a meta-analysis. plos one 8(12):e82091. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082091
http://annals-general-psychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-859x-4-13 depression and obstructive sleep apnea (osa) by carmen m schröder and ruth o'hara annals of general psychiatry20054:13 doi: 10.1186/1744-859x-4-13
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijhy/2013/193010/ akram khan, nimesh k. patel, daniel j. o’hearn, and supriya khan, “resistant hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea,” international journal of hypertension, vol. 2013, article id 193010, 6 pages, 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/193010
al dabal l, bahammam as. obesity hypoventilation syndrome. ann thorac med [serial online] 2009 [cited 2016 jul 24];4:41-9. available from: http://www.thoracicmedicine.org/text.asp?2009/4/2/41/49411
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2012.00184/full hypothesis & theory article front. neurol., 22 january 2013 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00184 pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and the critical role of oral-facial growth: evidences by yu-shu huang et al.,
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/pm/2013/521087/ carlos zamarrón, luis valdés cuadrado, and rodolfo álvarez-sala, “pathophysiologic mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome,” pulmonary medicine, vol. 2013, article id 521087, 16 pages, 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/521087
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=pmc4701420&blobtype=pdf : kim y, koo ys, lee hy, lee s-y (2016)can continuous positive airway pressure reduce the risk of stroke in obstructive sleep apnea patients? a systematic review and meta-analysis. plos one 11(1): e0146317. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146317
sunitha c, aravindkumar s. obstructive sleep apnea: clinical and diagnostic features. indian j dent res [serial online] 2009 [cited 2016 jul 24];20:487-91. available from: http://www.ijdr.in/text.asp?2009/20/4/487/59457
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sd/2014/768210/ georgia andreou, filippos vlachos, and konstantinos makanikas, “effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnea on cognitive functions: evidence for a common nature,” sleep disorders, vol. 2014, article id 768210, 18 pages, 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/768210
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=pmc3903532&blobtype=pdf xu h, guan j, yi h, yin s (2014) a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between serotonergic gene polymorphisms and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. plos one 9(1): e86460. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086460
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=pmc4338237&blobtype=pdf : shi y, liu p, guan j, lu y, su k (2015)association between glaucoma and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a meta-analysis and systematic review. plos one 10(2): e0115625.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115625
rajagopalan n. obstructive sleep apnea: not just a sleep disorder. j postgrad med [serial online] 2011 [cited 2016 jul 24];57:168-75. available from: http://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?2011/57/2/168/81866
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1308659#t=article upper-airway stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea by patrick j. strollo, jr., m.d. et al.,
Other helpful resources(support groups):
https://www.sleepassociation.org/patients-general-public/obstructive-sleep-apnea_/ obstructive sleep apnea
Related videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6lxo6w2-m8 sleep apnea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy0fmtlntyi obstructive sleep apnea (osa) - causes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktujq-ickpu sleep apnea video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dxegvk-ff4 obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (osas) - causes and treatment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glwtoh6fcjc obstructive sleep apnea animation
Presentations/quiz/newspaper articles:
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/medicare-regulations-and-sleep-apnea_b_8917878 huffington post medicare regulations are driving a wedge between obstructive sleep apnea patients and their providers
http://www.fox14tv.com/story/32519640/dr-russell-kisers-oral-appliance-therapy-for-sleep-apnea-new-location-in-mansfield-oh-the-snore-is-over fox 14 tv dr. russell kiser's oral appliance therapy for sleep apnea - new location in mansfield oh - the snore is over!
http://zeenews.india.com/health/sleep-apnea-patients-at-glaucoma-risk-1910936 zee news sleep apnea patients at glaucoma risk
http://www.newkerala.com/news/2016/fullnews-94805.html new kerela sleep apnea patients at glaucoma risk
http://www.prweb.com/releases/kiser-sleep-apnea-snoring/07-2016/prweb13541477.htm prweb dr. russell kiser's oral appliance therapy for sleep apnea - new location in mansfield oh - the snore is over!
http://www.hindustantimes.in/en/technology/tech-news/sleep-apnea-patients-at-glaucoma-risk/ hindustan times sleep apnea patients at glaucoma risk