Many people — almost a quarter of all men and almost 9 percent of women, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — experience the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA.
To diagnose OSA, individuals with symptoms (including loud snoring, high blood pressure and severe daytime sleepiness) usually undergo an overnight sleep study, which allows a sleep technologist to monitor the individual’s vital signs and brain function. Those results are reviewed by a sleep medicine specialist who can make a decision regarding whether the patient is experiencing a sleep disorder and what treatment will best provide relief to the symptoms.
With OSA, the symptoms are usually caused by tissue in the throat hanging into the airway. This obstructs breathing, leading to frequent ‘apneic events,’ or involuntary episodes where breathing pauses or stops. This causes the interrupted sleep that can lead to other health complications.
To counter OSA, physicians often prescribe a continuous positive air pressure device, or CPAP. The CPAP works by gently pushing air down the airway during sleep, keeping the airway clear and improving the quality of sleep.
Being prescribed a CPAP and actually using it, however, are two very different things.
A study in the Canadian Respiratory Journal reported that a large portion of those who were prescribed CPAP therapy reported health improvements from the therapy. About 15 percent of patients included in the study abandoned their CPAP therapy in less than a year, and only 54 percent of participants were still using their CPAP devices five years after being diagnosed with OSA.
Many people report that they find the CPAP mask confining or become claustrophobic, that it’s just generally uncomfortable or they’re not sure if it’s working properly.
However, most people who use CPAP experience immediate relief of their OSA symptoms. They feel more awake, more responsive and their snoring has diminished. It’s compliance that’s the issue — getting patients to continue the therapy — even though they know it works.
To help people adjust to their CPAP devices, the Tanner Center for Sleep Disorders is now offering “PAP naps.” The PAP nap is a daytime sleep study that allows the patient to spend time with a sleep technologist who can help make adjustments to the patient’s CPAP device, discuss the patient’s concerns and otherwise help him or her adjust to the therapy.
The study typically lasts from 60 to 120 minutes and can be performed at Tanner Center for Sleep Disorders locations in Carrollton and Villa Rica.
When you consider the complications that OSA can lead to — heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke — you understand the importance of staying compliant with the treatment. That’s the benefit of the PAP naps; they help make the therapy work for you.
To schedule a PAP nap, call the Tanner Center for Sleep Disorders at 770-812-9146. More information is available online at TannerSleep.org.
West Georgia Lung and Sleep Medicine is located in Carrollton. For more information, visit pcgofwestga.com or call 770-838-5864.