Asthma and obstructive sleep apnea
Donald Johnson | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
The links between asthma and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) suggest that OSA alone is a risk factor for making asthma episodes worse. And many studies also show that people with asthma are more prone to develop OSA. It seems that many of the things that happen in most asthma patients promote OSA. These are obstructions in the nose, an increase in the ability of the upper airway to collapse, and a decrease in the size of the airway.
Asthma is very common, and underlying inflammation in the blood vessels — which is common in OSA — is involved in the disorder. Many times it is hard to control asthma when OSA is left untreated because of GERD (reflux). GERD is a common condition in patients with OSA; roughly 60 percent of them have GERD. This reflux can make asthma episodes worse.
Nasal obstructions are also common in asthmatic patients. Since the nose is the preferred route for breathing both during the day and during the night, and since most asthmatics have rhinitis (inflammation in the nose), the association between OSA and asthma is easily seen.
Inflammation in the blood vessels causes a decrease in the cross section of the upper airway which is seen in most asthma patients. This inflammation, to a large extent, can be caused by OSA. So asthma and OSA are bad for one another. Asthma can make OSA worse and OSA can make asthma worse. And since OSA can be treated, it makes good sense to get tested for OSA if you have asthma. Then you can get that side of the equation under control. This will probably lead to a decrease in asthma symptoms.
Testing for OSA can be done easily with a home sleep test. A small unit is worn in your own home overnight and data is collected and read by a qualified physician. If the test shows that you indeed have sleep apnea, it can usually be treated with a small oral appliance supplied by a trained, qualified dentist. And this can make those asthma episodes less frequent and less intense.
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ARTICLES BY DONALD JOHNSON
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Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a chronic condition in which there are repeated blockages in the throat causing pauses in breathing. If there are more than five of these events per hour of sleep, each event lasting 10 seconds or longer, a patient is diagnosed with OSA. Some patients have events every minute during sleep; some have events lasting 60 seconds or longer. We have patients whose events last longer than 90 seconds. And most of these patients are unaware of this deadly condition. A patient whose events lasted over 90 seconds was completely unaware of OSA and only came in for a consultation because his wife couldn’t stand for his loud snoring any more.
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