Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a breathing disorder that causes the person’s body to stop breathing during the sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when tissue at the back of throat collapses and even blocks the airway. This prevents the air from getting into the lungs. This is a common sleep disorder.

It happens due to the fact that the muscles present inside the throat relaxes as you sleep. Gravity causes tongue to fall backward and then block the airway. This Blockage of airway can happen several hundred times per night or a few times a night.

OSA can occur both in women and men of any age group, but is common in middle-aged, obese men.

There is a relationship between OSA and weight. Your neck can get thicker as your body gains weight. This can certainly increases the volume of fat present in back of throat resulting in narrowing of the airway. As the fat increase the chances of throat getting blocked increases.

People with Obstructive sleep apnea are often obese with neck size more than 17”. Many people with Obstructive sleep apnea are found to have a high blood pressure. Children having large tonsils can have OSA.

Symptoms of Obstructive sleep apnea are:-

1. Experience of any of the below problems?
   • Unintentionally falling asleep specially during the day
   • Fatigue
   • Un refreshing sleep
   • General daytime sleepiness
   • Insomnia
2. Waking from asleep with choking sound or with gasping for breath?
3. You stop breathing or snoring loudly while you sleep?

If you have reported such symptoms then you may be suffering from OSA. There can be other cases also possible like many people snore loudly but only 50% of then suffer from OSA. Snoring comes when the air is partially blocked. Some people think that they don’t snore but the right person to answer that is their bed partner. In this problem a person may feel sleepy during day time. They may feel tired even after taking a nap. The person may find him/her self awake suddenly form the sleep.

If a person is suffering from OSA then that person must visit specialist as this is a serious problem involving blockage of the air respiratory system of the person. A person can also go for overnight sleep study, also called as polysomnogram as this can help in evaluate the problem.

There is possibility that the person may be suffering from other problems such as:

• Another sleep disorder
• Mental health disorder
• Medication use
• A medical condition
• Substance abuse

Following things can help in the treatment process, which are:-

1. Continuous positive airway pressure treatment is most often used for the treatment of OSA. It works by wearing a mask and throwing air back into the throat making airway open and thus the person can breathe easily while asleep
2. One can also go for weight loss exercises.
3. Under severe cases one can also go for surgery.

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