Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Disease
Snoring is a common disorder that affects millions of people around the world. Snoring occurs during sleep and most people who snores do not realize that they snore, unless told by others who hear them produce a snoring sound. Even though normal snoring is not dangerous to human health, having repeated breathing stops during the snoring process can be life threatening to the snorer. According to the American Heart Association (2012) study, having repeated breathing stops during the snoring process is dangerous and can result in the development of cardiovascular problems and even death. This condition is known as sleep apnea. In this respect, an individual with sleep apnea experiences repeated breathing stops for as many as thirty times in an hour when asleep. Such episodes are dangerous for the snorer since it increases the risk of developing heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, and arrhythmia. Research shows that one in every five people suffers from sleep apnea. America, in particular, has one of the highest incidences of people with the disease. According to Lettieri (2010), about 15 million adults suffer from obstructive sleep apnea in America. The majority of people with sleep apnea are patients with cardiovascular problems and hypertension. As earlier mentioned, this condition is life threatening and require early treatment. This document will examine the historical evidence of the disease, its causes, and its clinical effects on the cardiovascular system, complications, and prognosis. The discourse will also explore the treatments and research associated with the disease.
Historical Evidence
Javaheri, Caref, Chen, Tong, and Abraham (2011) define sleep apnea as a condition characterized by repeated breathing stops in the snoring process. The episode usually occurs as many as 30 times in an hour. Sleep apnea affects one in every five adults. Currently, an estimated 15 million American adults are affected with sleep apnea. Individuals with the disease are at risk of developing a number of complications, including cardiovascular problems, hypertension, arrhythmia, and stroke, just to name but a few. Even though interest in the study of sleep apnea is just beginning to gain momentum, the disease was first coined by William Osler in the early 20th century. At the time, people viewed sleep apnea as a character trait rather than a disorder (Javaheri et al., 2011). Pickwickian Syndrome was the term used to describe the disorder at the time of its discovery. Historians believed that Osler must have discovered the term while reading Charles Dickens novel The Pickwick Paper where the author had described an adult with an obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Soon afterward, sleep apnea began to appear in literatures.
Sleep apnea threatened the lives of many people with the syndrome at the time of its discovery. Javaheri et al. (2011) attribute this to the fact that no one knew how best to manage the condition. However, sleep apnea continued to threaten the lives of patients with the disease until 1981, when Australian researcher called Colin Sullivan and his colleagues developed a machine known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to help manage the disease (Javaheri et al., 2011). However, the major shortcoming of CPAP at the time was that the machine was bulky and noisy. To make the machine effective for managing sleep apnea, the scientists had to make some improvements to the CPA machine. However, the use of CPA remained relatively low until 1980s when hospitals started the technology. The availability of CPAP triggered the establishment of many clinics that focused mainly on the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea. Today, hundreds of such specialized clinics are available that focus on diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea.