Chennai: Intense travelling, little time for physical activity and exercise, and improper diet may rob one of much-needed sleep. This ought to be taken serious note of, as, in the long run, it could lead to sleep apnea. According to a recent study by the Madras ENT Research Foundation, about 24 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women above 45 years of age in the country suffer from sleep apnea. Obese persons, those with diabetes and who lead a sedentary lifestyle are more prone to sleep apnea. Smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol and heavy snoring are other risk factors associated with this disorder, which is emerging as a common one among middle-aged working professionals.
According to experts, sleep problems are common and often remain undiagnosed. Unfortunately, they have the distinction of being one of the most untreated non-communicable diseases with numbers far exceeding the number of untreated diabetics and hypertensives. Sleep disorders have an impact on overall wellness and, if untreated, could lead to poor control of hypertension, diabetes and also lead to cardiac problems and stroke.
Globally, the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) varies from 0.3 per cent to 5.1 per cent in the general population. In India, OSA varies from 4.4 per cent to 13.7 per cent, which is nearly thrice the global norm. The OSA in Indian men varies from 4.4 per cent to 19.7 per cent, and in Indian women, between 2.5 per cent to 7.4 per cent. Even 1 out of 8 children in India, especially in metros, have now begun to snore - from mild to quite high levels - as per a latest study. Snoring may not always be an indication of sound health. It clearly points out that the person’s sleep is disturbed sufficiently to cause serious lifestyle problems.
OSA is the most common type of sleep apnea (a Greek word meaning without breath) occurring when the soft tissue in the back of the throat relaxes during sleep and blocks the airway, often causing one to snore loudly. Apart from this common, involuntary cessation of breathing when the patient is asleep, central and mixed sleep apneas are the other two types. “While snoring is often dismissed as a hereditary behaviour, an indulgent lifestyle is often the reason for this problem in the first place. Obesity, high body mass index (BMI), neck girth, waist girth and hip girth are some of the obvious reasons for snoring,” says Dr K.K. Ramalingam, ENT surgeon and founder of Indian Society of Otology.
Cigarette smoking, alcohol intake and use of sedatives at bed-time, advancing age are other trigger factors for disturbed sleeping patterns, though not to OSA. Obesity indirectly contributes to the upper airway narrowing during sleep because the lung volumes are markedly reduced by increased abdominal fat mass and decreased lung volumes in the recumbent position, he adds. “Risks associated with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea can lead to hypertension, cardiac diseases and diabetes.
A weight gain of 10 kg in men leads to about a 5-fold increase in snoring, while a similar weight gain in women leads to a mere 2-fold increase in snoring. It was noticed that there was regression in snoring occurred with loss of weight in patients under study,” says Dr Ravi Ramalingam, ENT surgeon. The incidence of OSA is independently determined by body weight, age and gender.
