Sleep apnea (momentary suspension of breathing) explained by a doctor

Kinshasa, August 7^th, 2021 (CPA).- Sleep apnea, which is a syndrome characterized by respiratory pauses during sleep, generally occurs in overweight, elderly or heavily snoring people, explained Dr. Chadrack on Friday. Kibango Nenga, attending physician at the “Mayamba CPK / ECC” medical center, located in the municipality of Limeté in Kinshasa during an interview with the CPA. According to Dr. Kibango Nenga, severe cases occur up to more than 30 times per hour. These apneas disrupt sleep and mainly result in fatigue upon waking, headaches or drowsiness during the day. In the majority of cases, apneas are due to a relaxation of the tongue and the muscles of the throat, which are not tonic enough and block the passage of air during breathing. Thus, the person tries to breathe, but the air does not circulate because of the obstruction in the airways. This is why doctors talk about obstructive apnea or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). According to Dr. Kibango, the frequency of sleep apnea is very high. It is comparable to other chronic diseases such as asthma or type 2 diabetes. Sleep apnea can affect adults and children, but its frequency increases sharply with age. It is 2 to 4 times more common in men than in women before the age of 60. After this age, he added, the frequency is the same in both sexes. In the long term, apneas are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems, such as hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction (heart attack), cardiac arrhythmias (cardiac arrhythmia) and heart failure. heart failure. It is advisable to see a doctor if the snoring is loud and disturbs sleep by doing a test called « polysomnography ». This test allows you to study the different phases of sleep and measure several parameters to detect sleep apnea and assess their severity. ACP/