Snoring associated with sleep apnea can cause changes in the concentration of oxygen in the body, and a decrease in oxygen in the blood has consequences for all organs and systems, Beatrice Mahler, head of the Marius Nasta Institute, told Agerpres on Wednesday. .

The doctor stated that when a person snores, they should see a doctor for a sleep evaluation.

“Snoring is a warning sign for a person who is told or told by their partner that they snore. We do not always know that we are snoring, or very rarely when we perceive these sounds, we know about ourselves that we produce them. noise during sleep, but of course, when it is present, a visit to the doctor’s office for a sleep evaluation is almost mandatory. Sleep assessment is important because snoring involves a change in airflow in the throat. The air is blocked and the vibration it creates in the palate creates this noise, which is sometimes very disturbing. In addition to the fact that it is very disturbing to those around, it causes changes in the concentration of oxygen in the body. A decrease in oxygen in the blood has consequences for all organs and systems,” explained Mahler.

From weakened immunity to heart attack

According to the manager, the body of a person who has a decrease in oxygen due to neck obstruction functions in a state of anxiety, sometimes in a state of moderate hypoxemia, sometimes even severe.

“Very often in these patients we find sleep apnea syndrome as a diagnosis of a patient who snores. Sleep apnea syndrome causes numerous changes. From impaired immunity, immunity that is affected not only by direct action on lymphocytes, because the mechanisms have a low protection when the concentration of oxygen in the blood decreases, as well as systemic inflammatory changes, which in a person with obesity and an already high level of cholesterol increase the risk of initiating cerebrovascular incidents, myocardial infarction, and complications on the cardiovascular system, which are extremely difficult,” said Beatrice Mahler.

She said that to evaluate people with sleep apnea, a doctor provides a Holter monitor that shows oxygen concentration, abdominal movements, chest movements, airflow from the airway and records snoring, if present.

“For evaluation, the doctor usually provides a Holter monitor, which can be used to evaluate sleep. These devices assess oxygen concentration, abdominal movements, chest movements, airway airflow, and record snoring if present. according to the number of apneas that we record every hour, the patient receives supportive treatment, that is, together with colleagues from the ENT field, we try to evaluate the nasal area, if there are serious obstacles, together with orthodontists to correct dental changes that may interfere with normal breathing at night, but this is not always enough,” the doctor said.

Beatrice Mahler said that in the case of an obese patient, weight reduction is recommended.

“If a patient is obese, the weight loss we recommend to patients is somewhat mandatory. Very often there is a need to maintain an open airway, and this can be done with a device that creates pressure in the airway so that during inhalation, as well as exhalation, the airway remains open and oxygen can flow in and the noise due to associated with snoring, can no longer hear,” added the doctor.

Patients who suffer from sleep apnea and are not treated, experience constant fatigue, headache, some have increased blood pressure, and the consequences can be serious, for example, myocardial infarction, stroke.

“If we talk about a patient who is not treated, he will feel a state of constant fatigue, (…) basically a person who snores or has sleep apnea can no longer rest, even if he sleeps for 8-9 hours. hours a night he will not have restful sleep. He wakes up with a headache in the morning, he is much more agitated, much more unhappy, many patients have high blood pressure that does not respond to treatment. Some develop cardiac arrhythmias due to reduced oxygen, but not in any case, they don’t think that this can be a problem related to ineffective and poor-quality night sleep. Up to extremely serious consequences: myocardial infarction, stroke, which practically affects the patient throughout his life later,” said the doctor.

Beatrice Mahler said that over the past year, the number of people who consult a pulmonologist because they don’t sleep well at night, snoring and feeling tired has increased.

“I can say that in the last year I have had more patients than in any other period who have seen a pulmonologist, who have come to the doctor because they are not sleeping well at night, because their partner tells them that they snore, because they feel tired. That’s good, but there’s still quite a lot (of patients seeing a doctor) compared to a lot of people who have these problems,” Mahler said.

According to her, patients with sleep apnea are at risk of road accidents, as poor-quality sleep can affect the ability to concentrate and reduce attention to the wheel.

“A very important risk is the risk of a traffic accident, because poor-quality sleep can affect the ability to concentrate and reduce attention to the wheel. Men snore twice as often as women, so sleep apnea is more common in them. in men than in women in women, but very often it is associated with the presence of obesity, but this is not a mandatory condition,” the doctor also noted.