Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is one of the worst sleep problems. OSA happens when the upper airway gets closed over and over again while you sleep. This can cause breathing stops that last anywhere from seconds to minutes. This causes problems with sleep and lowers the amount of oxygen in the blood, both of which can be very bad for your health.
OSA makes you more likely to have heart problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. It can also make you sleepy during the day, make it harder to think clearly, and cause mood swings. If OSA isn't handled, it can have a big effect on quality of life and make people more likely to have accidents during the day because they are sleepy.
A sleep study (polysomnography) is often used to diagnose by watching how people breathe and how much air they get while they sleep. Changing your lifestyle (like losing weight or doing positioning therapy), continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, mouth tools, and sometimes surgery to remove or move throat tissues that are blocking your airway are all possible ways to treat this condition.
To lower the health risks and improve general well-being, it is important to find and treat OSA as soon as possible.
