Condition
Sleep apnoea: measured in one night
Loud snoring with pauses, and waking unrefreshed however long you slept, is the pattern of obstructive sleep apnoea. It is common, it is easy to measure, and treating it changes how people feel within days.
What it is
In obstructive sleep apnoea the throat closes repeatedly during sleep. Each time, breathing stops for seconds at a time, oxygen falls, and the brain wakes just enough to open the airway again. It can happen dozens of times an hour without the sleeper remembering any of it.
It matters beyond tiredness. Untreated, it is associated with high blood pressure that will not settle on tablets, with heart rhythm problems, with poor diabetic control, and with falling asleep at the wheel. It is also one of the most treatable conditions in respiratory medicine.
This page is general information about the condition, written for patients. It is not a diagnosis, and it is no substitute for being examined.
Measuring it
How we find out, rather than assume
Each of these is done on site at the Tirupati centre, which is why most patients leave the first visit with an answer.
Level 2 sleep study
A full overnight recording of breathing, oxygen, heart rate, effort and body position. It counts how many times an hour breathing stops and how far oxygen falls, which is what decides whether and how it is treated.
Epworth sleepiness scale
A short questionnaire that puts a number on daytime sleepiness and tracks whether treatment is working.
Airway and general assessment
Throat, nose and jaw, weight, neck size, thyroid and blood pressure - the things that decide which treatment suits.
Treatment
What care looks like
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1
CPAP is the mainstay: a quiet airflow through a mask that holds the throat open. Most people notice the difference within a week. The work is in the fitting, the pressure setting and the first month of follow-up, which is where a clinic makes the difference between a machine used and one in a cupboard.
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2
BiPAP and non-invasive ventilation where the problem is not only obstruction, and where carbon dioxide retention is part of the picture.
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3
Weight, sleep position, alcohol and sedative timing all change the severity, and referral to ENT or dental colleagues is arranged where the anatomy is the main problem.
Questions
Asked most often
Answered the way we would answer them in the room. If yours is not here, ring the clinic and ask.
Related services
Does snoring always mean sleep apnoea?
No. Snoring is very common and often harmless. It becomes important when breathing pauses, when sleep never refreshes, or when daytime sleepiness affects driving or work. Only a sleep study can tell the two apart.
Do I have to stay in hospital for the test?
A Level 2 study records a full night. We fit the equipment and explain it, and the recording is scored afterwards. Ring the clinic and we will tell you exactly how it is arranged for you.
Is CPAP for life?
It treats the apnoea while it is used rather than curing it, so it is usually long term. Significant weight loss, treating nasal obstruction or surgery can reduce or occasionally remove the need, which is why the whole picture is assessed rather than only the machine.
Will losing weight fix it?
It often improves it substantially, and in mild cases it can be enough. It is rarely the whole answer on its own, and it takes time that untreated apnoea does not always give, so the two usually run together.