1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea
What It Is A common, but estimated to be frequently underdiagnosed, sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by extended pauses in breathing while you sleep. Sleep apnea can occur when the upper airway gets blocked repeatedly during sleep, cutting off airflow.
Someone with sleep apnea may snore, gasp for breath, or choke during sleep, and may be unaware that it’s happening.
“Severe sleep apnea can cause irregular heart rate, lack of oxygen to the brain, and even death [if untreated for a long time],” says Mangala Nadkarni, MD, the medical director of the center for sleep disorders at RWJ Barnabas Health in Livingston, New Jersey. Symptoms someone might notice earlier on after developing sleep apnea are excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue, because the blocked breathing during sleep prevents someone from getting to the deep, more restorative stages of sleep. Long term, sleep apnea increases the risk of hypertension, heart failure, and stroke.
It’s estimated that between 10 and 30 percent of American adults have sleep apnea. It can affect children and adults of both sexes, although it’s more common in men.
How to Treat It Apnea must be diagnosed with the help of a sleep specialist who’ll conduct a physical exam and look at your medical history and the results of a sleep study.
Lifestyle changes such as weight loss, improvements to your diet, reduced alcohol intake, and side sleeping can be helpful for some. Specialists also use dental devices, surgery, or sleeping with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine to help. CPAP machines are the most common form of treatment — they push air through a mask and into the airway to keep it open during sleep. For adults who also have obesity, the weight loss drug tirzepatide (Zepbound) is approved to treat moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea.