Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potentially serious sleep disorder. It causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start during sleep. There are several types of sleep apnea, but the most common is obstructive sleep apnea. This type of apnea occurs when your throat muscles intermittently relax and block your airway during sleep. A noticeable sign of obstructive sleep apnea is snoring. Different treatment options are now available for an effective management of this disease. After more than three decades from its first use, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is still recognized as the gold standard treatment.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the cessation of breathing due to blockage of the airway. This can be caused by weakness of facial muscles, obesity, airway inflammation and swollen tonsils. It is possible, therefore, that sleep apnea could be prevented by pharmacological means, such as controlling inflammation or treating neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis or Guillain-Barré syndrome. This is especially important because a number of neuromuscular disorders are progressive and affect more muscle groups as time goes by.
Research into the pharmacological prevention of sleep apnea is warranted because the prevalence of OSA continues to increase in line with growing numbers of people with neuromuscular conditions and excess weight. It is therefore imperative that proactive measures are taken to prevent people from developing OSA and, by association, reduce the frequency of OSA-related motor vehicle collisions around the world.
- Excessive daytime sleepiness may cause accidents in the home, at work and whilst driving.
- OSAS is important from a public health perspective because of the increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and road traffic incidents[1].
- Irritability, depression and other psychological consequences may ensue.
- Cardiovascular complications include hypertension, coronary artery disease, congestive cardiac failure.
- OSAS has also been identified as an independent risk factor for stroke
