Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a dangerous disease that is manifested primarily by nighttime snoring and occasional pauses in breathing during sleep . The danger of the disease lies in the fact that it negatively affects all systems and organs, accelerates the development of cardiovascular and other diseases, threatens with a high risk of heart attack, stroke and sudden death.
In the treatment of sleep apnea syndrome, various methods are used, depending on the form of the disease, clinical manifestations, the presence of complications and the individual characteristics of the patient.
Goals of therapy
The main goal of sleep apnea treatment is to maintain a constant airway lumen. At the same time, therapy has several goals:
- restoring a good sleep;
- prevention of collapse of the upper respiratory tract;
- prevention of the development of severe complications;
- providing the patient with optimal therapy with no or minimal side effects.
Treatment of sleep apnea syndrome includes complex therapy: there are non-drug, medical and surgical methods to combat the disorder.
General recommendations
With minor respiratory disorders and unexpressed symptoms, treatment is recommended to begin with general measures:
- exclusion of alcohol and sleeping pills at night;
- weight loss;
- to give up smoking;
- ensuring the necessary position of the head and body during sleep (in the position on the side with the raised end of the bed);
- performing special exercises against snoring;
- treatment of acute and chronic diseases of ENT organs;
Medical therapy
Attempts to treat snoring and sleep apnea with a number of medications (oxygen, gestagens, tricyclic antidepressants) do not provide a stable and reliable effect. With nasal congestion, special medicines in the form of drops are widely used – vasoconstrictor drugs.
Non-drug therapy
holding your breath during sleep, various types of intraoral devices are used: tongue holders, orthoses , splints. Such devices provide the displacement of the lower jaw forward and, accordingly, maintain the lumen of the airways open.
Mechanical methods of treatment with the help of snoring devices are also used. Such devices control the sleeping person’s breathing and, when snoring occurs, they send a signal to the person, as a result of which the tone of the respiratory tract increases, and their lumen expands. The use of such devices develops in a person a conditioned reflex reaction to snoring without disturbing his sleep.
Surgical treatments
Surgical methods are used if the patient has the following indications: anatomical defects of the nasopharynx, chronic diseases, anomalies of the respiratory tract. Classical surgical techniques, laser treatment, radio wave method, cryoplasty are used .
CPAP therapy
Currently, the basic treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is CPAP therapy (it is important to keep in mind that it is not prescribed for Cheyne-Stokes breathing). This is the leading method of “respiratory support”, which allows you to constantly and steadily monitor the safety of the patient’s airway during sleep and does not require additional synchronization with respiratory equipment.
For the treatment of sleep apnea, CPAP devices are used, the price of which is determined by their class; You can purchase such devices not only in Moscow, but also in other cities, and they are also easy to order via the Internet.
In the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea using CPAP devices, there is an improvement in the quality of night rest, a decrease in daytime symptoms. In patients, daytime sleepiness decreases, working capacity and efficiency of mental work increase. If a patient has congestive heart failure, oxygenation (oxygen saturation) of the blood during sleep improves, cardiac output increases and the number of night awakenings decreases .
On the Internet, you can find numerous positive reviews about the treatment of moderate and severe apnea with CPAP devices.
To date, sleep apnea therapy using the CPAP method is the main and preferred method of combating the disease. At the Center for Sleep Medicine at the Rehabilitation Clinic in Khamovniki, you can take a course of trial treatment and receive recommendations for conducting CPAP therapy at home.
Currently, the Center has advanced CPAP devices Prisma Line from the new line of Weinmann – Loewenstein (Germany). Their use allows the most effective and comfortable treatment of the entire spectrum of respiratory disorders in our patients.