Sleep Apnea

Overview

睡眠呼吸暂停是一种疾病，当你睡着时，你的呼吸会被打断10秒或更长时间. These interruptions may occur hundreds of times a night, causing you to gasp for air and disrupting your sleep.

There are two main types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive sleep apnea. This is the most common type of sleep apnea. 它的特征是在睡眠时鼻腔和喉咙阻塞或变窄. Patients tend to wake up repeatedly to gasp for air.
Central sleep apnea. 这种类型的睡眠呼吸暂停被认为与大脑正常呼吸信号的故障有关. 血液中的二氧化碳含量上升，这可能会导致你醒来.

Our approach to sleep apnea

At UCSF, 我们的睡眠医学专家为睡眠呼吸暂停等疾病提供全面的服务和治疗, insomnia, narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder, restless legs syndrome and snoring. 我们有一个专门设计的睡眠测试实验室，在舒适的环境中提供尖端的诊断护理, hotel-like setting for patients' overnight evaluations. Accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, our sleep center sees more than 2,000 patients each year.

治疗睡眠呼吸暂停可能包括生活方式和行为的改变, such as making changes to lose weight, sleeping on your side or stomach (rather than your back), and avoiding alcohol before bed. 最有效的治疗方法是持续气道正压通气(CPAP), 其中包括睡觉时戴着一个连接着空气输送设备的口罩来帮助你呼吸. 对于一些睡眠呼吸暂停患者，我们可能会考虑使用牙科设备或手术来重新定位颌骨.

Awards & recognition

Among the top hospitals in the nation
No. 8 in the nation for pulmonology & lung surgery

Signs & symptoms

Common symptoms of sleep apnea include:

Restless sleep
Loud, heavy snoring often interrupted by silence and gasps
Drowsiness or fatigue, caused by the lack of sleep
Headaches in the morning
Irritability, forgetfulness, mood or behavior changes
Anxiety or depression

如果不治疗睡眠呼吸暂停，它会导致严重的健康问题，例如:

Hypertension or high blood pressure
Heart disease, heart attack and stroke
Psychiatric symptoms such as depression
Impotence and lack of interest in sex
记忆丧失或其他精神处理问题，也称为认知功能障碍

Diagnosis

If you think you might have sleep apnea, 你的十大赌博平台排行榜可能会根据你的症状做出诊断. In addition, an overnight evaluation 通过睡眠研究可以评估你的睡眠问题的严重程度和原因.

在你家里或睡眠实验室进行的夜间睡眠研究中, 当你睡觉时，你的呼吸和其他身体功能会受到监控.

In a sleep laboratory such as the UCSF Sleep Testing Laboratory, tests, called polysomnograms, monitor your heart, lung, 大脑活动，眼球运动以及呼吸模式, blood oxygen levels and body movements as you sleep.

At home, 便携式监测仪可以测量血液中的含氧量, 当你呼吸时流经鼻子的空气量, 你的心率和胸部运动可以表明呼吸时所付出的努力.

Treatments

Sleep apnea rarely goes away without treatment. 治疗包括生活方式的改变和行为的改变, such as losing weight, sleeping on your side or stomach and not on your back, 睡前两到三个小时不要喝酒.

If those efforts fail, the most effective treatment is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). 口罩覆盖着你的口鼻，并连接在一个设备上，该设备在你睡觉时连续泵出空气. Air flowing into your nostrils helps keep airways open.

许多患者觉得戴口罩不舒服，于是放弃了治疗, but with practice, 你可以学习如何调节面罩，适应气压. 在找到最适合你的面膜之前，你可能需要尝试多种面膜.

人们还在开发新的设备来提高舒适度:

Humidifier. CPAP设备泵出的空气可能会导致鼻道和喉咙干燥, sore tongue and nose bleeds. A CPAP humidifier helps alleviate the side effects.
Nasal pillow. CPAP鼻枕比传统口罩小，可插入鼻孔, making breathing more comfortable.
Pressure relief. Exhaling against air pressure can be uncomfortable. A device, called CPAP pressure relief, 吸气和呼气时自动调节气压. 当你开始呼气时，这个装置会降低气压, 然后在吸气时弯曲到治疗水平，以获得更好的舒适感.

Other treatments are: