RE: Recently diagnosed with severe apnea - questions
(11-19-2015, 09:41 PM)Sleepless12 Wrote: Thank you everyone for your comments. I have not received a copy of the report yet, but I was told I have OSA and the AHI was 64.
AHI 64 = 64 events per hour (would be higher, if they use RDI instead of AHI)
An events has to last at least 10 seconds or more to be scored, some are more than seconds
If you take the best case scenario and assume all events are 10 seconds
64 X 10 = 640 seconds
640 divide by 60 = 10.6 minutes
You stopped breathing 10.6 minutes in every hour, about 18% of the time (if my math is correct) while you're sleeping
Here is wiki/video about sleep disordered breathing (SDB)
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...hing_(SDB)
RE: Recently diagnosed with severe apnea - questions
Your body can't physiologically "fake" OSA. Apneas, hypopneas and severely decreased oxygen saturations are due to obstruction (or central apnea), which occur when you are asleep, thus producing disturbed and abnormal sleep. Look at it this way: if you hold your breath intentionally, you can't drop your oxygen saturation lower than about 95% (assuming no underlying lung disease, such as emphysem, or heart failure), and your brain stem will "make" you breathe. Thus, even a short period of sleep in a sleep test that reveals apneas/hypopneas is significant.
The curse of OSA is like that of type II diabetes and hypertension: all of these frequently produce no symptoms, until there is underlying organ damage. Early diagnosis, followed by appropriate and uninterrupted treatment, are the keys to preventing silent advancement of these illnesses.
I was personally fortunate that I developed severe sleep deprivation symptoms from my OSA, and I really feel lousy when I sleep badly. CPAP saved my sanity. Many patients with OSA just don't "feel bad," which is deceptive. Pulmonary hypertension, systemic hypertension, and right heart enlargement all progress silently with untreated OSA. If you wait to treat your OSA until you are sick or "feel lousy", you are probably waiting too long.
As is said, "denial is not just a river in Egypt."
