Sleep Apnea

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Specifics
• Genetics

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Sleep apnea is a common disorder that causes your breathing to stop or get very shallow. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They may occur 30 times or more an hour.

The most common type is obstructive sleep apnea. It causes your airway to collapse or become blocked during sleep. Normal breathing starts again with a snort or choking sound. People with sleep apnea often snore loudly. However, not everyone who snores has sleep apnea.

You are more at risk for sleep apnea if you are overweight, male, or have a family history or small airways. Children with enlarged tonsils or adenoids may also get it.

Doctors diagnose sleep apnea based on medical and family histories, a physical exam, and sleep study results.

When your sleep is interrupted throughout the night, you can be drowsy during the day. People with sleep apnea are at higher risk for car crashes, work-related accidents, and other medical problems. If you have it, it is important to get treatment. Lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, surgery, and breathing devices can treat sleep apnea in many people.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Sleep Apnea (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Sleep Apnea (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Also in Spanish
• Struggling to Sleep? Don't Let Apnea Steal Your Sweet Dreams (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• What Is Sleep Apnea? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Getting a Sleep Apnea Diagnosis (American Sleep Apnea Association)
• Pulse Oximetry (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Sleep Studies (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
• Sleep Study (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• What is a Sleep Study? (American Sleep Apnea Association)

Treatments and Therapies

• CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
• CPAP Machines: Tips for Avoiding 10 Common Problems (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Do You Need a Device That Claims to Clean a CPAP Machine? (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Central Sleep Apnea - Mayo Clinic (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) (American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons) - PDF

Genetics

• Obstructive sleep apnea: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Sleep Apnea Syndromes (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Causal relationship between sleep apnea and prostatitis: A 2-sample Mendelian randomization...
• Article: SiCRNN: A Siamese Approach for Sleep Apnea Identification via Tracheal Microphone...
• Article: Developing and testing a toolkit of interventions to improve adherence to...
• Sleep Apnea -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Sleep Apnea Association
• Find a Sleep Center (American Academy of Sleep Medicine)
• National Center on Sleep Disorders Research
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Also in Spanish

Children

• Apnea of Prematurity (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Sleep Apnea Detection (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
• Sleep Study (Polysomnogram) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Central sleep apnea (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Obstructive sleep apnea - adults (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Pediatric sleep apnea (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Positive airway pressure treatment (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish