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AMOUNT OF APNOEAS/HYPOPNOEAS PER HOUR
Came across the following article on Twitter, and it got me thinking...... so often people talk about the amount of apnoeas/hypopnoeas (AHI) they have per hour, yet it's also significant as to how long a person stops breathing for than how many times. Someone who stops breathing for 2 minutes will have less events (AHI) than someone who stops breathing for say 15 seconds. Food for thought.......
Sleep Apnoea (ie., the cessation of breathing while asleep) is classified as mild, moderate or severe depending on the average number of ‘apnoeic events’ which occur per hour whilst the patient is asleep. To classify as an apnoeic event, the person must stop breathing for at least 10 seconds. There is no ‘maximum’ period — and we regularly treat patients who stop breathing for 30 seconds to a minute each time. In particularly severe cases, the patients stop breathing for up to 2 minutes each time.
Try holding your breath for that long. Now try doing it a dozen or more times per hour.
A person with ‘mild’ apnoea stops breathing between 5 and 15 times per hour. That means breathing stops every 4 to 12 minutes.
A person with ‘moderate’ apnoea stops breathing between 15 and 30 times per hour. That equates to a breathing stoppage every 2 to 4 minutes.
A person with ‘severe’ sleep apnoea stops breathing 30 or more times per hour. In extreme cases, we have seen and treated patients who stop breathing over 100 times per hour. That means they stop breathing more than once every minute, for at least 10 seconds each time. More typical periods of stoppage are 20 to 30 seconds.
Serious apnoea sufferers may therefore not be breathing for more than half of every hour they’re asleep. No wonder their blood oxygen levels fall and blood pressure rises.
And no wonder they wake feeling tired. Typically, each apnoeic event is followed by a ‘micro arousal’, where the patients wakes briefly and resumes breathing. Micro arousals are so brief, the patient has no conscious awareness of having woken. Therefore, the next morning they think they’ve sleep for 8 hours straight and can’t work out why they wake feeling so tired. The reality is they have NOT slept 8 hours straight. They’ve actually had a hundred or more short naps.
You can imagine how you would feel if you dozed off, then were woken, then dozed off, then were woken, then dozed off, then were woken … again and again, for months and years on end. The disruption to the quality of your sleep would obviously be massive.
One of the greatest challenges facing the treatment of apnoea is the fact that the patients simply don’t know they are suffering from the condition — because they’re asleep when it occurs. That being the case, look for other indicators…
Waking feeling tired is a significant signal. Feeling drowsy in the afternoon is another. High blood pressure is a very significant indicator. Snoring is a major ‘red flag’. In fact, if you snore and suffer from at least one of the other indicators just mentioned, it is very likely you are suffering from some degree of apnoea.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by paula jones on
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when put like that scary!! my sleep study showed my airway collaspe 60times a hour and the longest breathe holding was 1min 30 seconds,all rest where 20/30 seconds,bad as!! now got mask 4wks into it,1 airway collaspe an hr,so its working but still feel tired..weird i know!! it is scary but 4wks ago i thought the scariest thing was that mask!! haha im used to it now!! its not a nice thing to have,the whole thing is horrible,but im accepting it more and more!! Paula x x
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Permalink Reply by Kath Hope on
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Great to hear you've accepted your Darth Vader bed outfit so early on :-D Also, the fact that you've got evidence that the treatment's working is good. As time goes on, I'm sure you'll start to feel better, as you owe your body a lot of sleep debt which takes time to pay back.
paula jones said:
when put like that scary!! my sleep study showed my airway collaspe 60times a hour and the longest breathe holding was 1min 30 seconds,all rest where 20/30 seconds,bad as!! now got mask 4wks into it,1 airway collaspe an hr,so its working but still feel tired..weird i know!! it is scary but 4wks ago i thought the scariest thing was that mask!! haha im used to it now!! its not a nice thing to have,the whole thing is horrible,but im accepting it more and more!! Paula x x
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hope so Mary!! cant wait till that horrible cloudy fuz goes from my head!! gotta have a camera up my nose to check alls well and have a few blood tests ,thiriod and diabetics (spelt wrong)LOL..but u know wot i mean hehe,so my specalist is doin all he can ,thats very good,i'll be sorted soon,thanks for reply,nice to meet u x x
Mary Zimlich said:Paula, good for you for taking it so seriously and sticking to your treatment. As Kath says, once you are on the machine for a while you should start feeling better and find it all worthwhilel
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paula jones said:when put like that scary!! my sleep study showed my airway collaspe 60times a hour and the longest breathe holding was 1min 30 seconds,all rest where 20/30 seconds,bad as!!......
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Heck Paula, more evidence at the wonderful treatment you're getting. FANTASTIC!!
paula jones said:
hope so Mary!! cant wait till that horrible cloudy fuz goes from my head!! gotta have a camera up my nose to check alls well and have a few blood tests ,thiriod and diabetics (spelt wrong)LOL..but u know wot i mean hehe,so my specalist is doin all he can ,thats very good,i'll be sorted soon,thanks for reply,nice to meet u x x
Mary Zimlich said:Paula, good for you for taking it so seriously and sticking to your treatment. As Kath says, once you are on the machine for a while you should start feeling better and find it all worthwhilel
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paula jones said:when put like that scary!! my sleep study showed my airway collaspe 60times a hour and the longest breathe holding was 1min 30 seconds,all rest where 20/30 seconds,bad as!!......
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Awww thanks,did i mention im Very Very Very Needle phobic..lol..its the worse thing in the world,panic attack doesnt even come close,and im goin wednesday,Gup!! so im more panicy about that than the camera,not even got an appoiintment for that yet,Bet i wait ages,but u r all right,im being sorted by a good doc and hos...Thanks all x x
Mary Zimlich said:paula, the camera up the nose is not bad at all. I had it and I'm a real wimp. It does sound like you're getting good treatment. Thyroid, if it's low, can make you feel bad as can diabetes so it's good to rule those problems out. Good luck and keep us posted.
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Thanks i did cry,(softey) but its done now,Thanks x x will let u know results,x x x
Mary Zimlich said:Paula, hope you're finished your tests by now. Also hope it wasn't as bad as you feared.
Good luck on the results, Keep us posted.
Mary Z.
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