Person wearing a CPAP mask for sleep apnoea treatment

Interrupted breathing during sleep (sleep apnoea)

People who suffer from sleep apnoea wake up during the night without consciously realising it. The consequences are daytime tiredness, poor concentration and reduced performance. Sleep apnoea can be treated. This significantly improves the quality of life of those affected. 

What is sleep apnoea?
Diagnosis
Treatment
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People who suffer from sleep apnoea wake up during the night without consciously realising it. The consequences are daytime tiredness, poor concentration and reduced performance. Sleep apnoea syndrome is a condition that leads to irregular breathing during sleep. The reason: the collapses of the upper airways are inclined and temporarily close the airways completely. This causes the oxygen in the body to drop and the body reacts with a protective mechanism. You wake up but are often not consciously aware of it. Depending on how often you wake up, the symptoms are more pronounced during the day.


It is estimated that around five per cent of the population suffer from this condition. The consequences of sleep apnoea syndrome are daytime tiredness, poor concentration, a decrease in physical and mental performance and high blood pressure. This increases the risk of accidents, cardiac arrhythmia, heart attacks and strokes.

Diagnosis

From simple pulse oximetry (measurement of nocturnal oxygen saturation, breathing and body position) to complete polysomnography with integrated sleep analysis, in which up to fifteen different parameters can be measured, all diagnostic options are available. Competent specialists (sleep laboratory, pneumology, psychology, neurology, ENT) are at your service.

Treatment

Depending on the severity of the sleep apnoea syndrome, various treatments are possible. The standard treatment is nocturnal positive pressure ventilation using CPAP therapy (Continuous Positive Airways Pressure). For milder cases, mandibular advancement splints and, in special cases, a forced lateral position are alternatives. Selected cases are treated surgically. We discuss these cases at interdisciplinary conferences consisting of several specialised doctors (pneumologist, neurologist, psychiatrist and ENT specialists).

CPAP treatment is generally very well tolerated by patients. However, regular check-ups are necessary, the first one after one to three months and the subsequent ones at annual intervals. Patient care is provided by the cantonal lung leagues, which also provide the relevant equipment.

Do you suffer from daytime sleepiness? Do you snore?

Anyone who is constantly tired during the day and stops breathing at night should have this checked out. You can obtain initial information on possible risks with a simple online test from the Swiss Lung Association.

Click here for the test

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