Sleepiness throughout the day? - Obstructive Sleep Apnea Symptoms Checker
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a widespread disease that many people are not aware of. If you are having symptoms like daytime sleepiness, you should check yourself for it.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder. It occurs when your airway collapses during your sleep, stopping your breathing. These episodes of apnea can disrupt your sleep, causing many adverse effects on your body.
Sleep is a normal bodily function in which the consciousness is decreased. Sleep is an important process for many bodily functions like hormone regulation, memory, learning, and cell recovery. All of these processes can be disrupted by obstructive sleep apnea.
There is one main reason for obstructive sleep apnea. During sleep, the throat and the soft tissue of your palate can collapse and block your airway. Many things can cause this and act as risk factors to develop this condition.
The most critical OSA risk factors include both structural and non-structural risk factors. Structural risk factors include anatomic abnormalities like a small chin, big tongue, wide neck, and elongated face. Non-structural risk factors are obesity, smoking, consuming substances like alcohol and sedatives.
Sometimes, OSA patients don’t notice their symptoms. It can be their partner the first to notice something is wrong. The most common symptoms include daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, dry mouth or sore throat, and snoring. Other common symptoms include fatigue, memory problems, depression, and trouble concentrating. In the long term, OSA can cause complications like heart disease, hormonal disbalances, hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux.
The tool is an obstructive sleep apnea symptom checker. It puts together the most common signs and symptoms of the disease and the most common and important risk factors.
In order to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea, you’ll need to see a certified doctor. Since patients don’t always notice all of their symptoms, the diagnosis can be a little difficult. To establish a diagnosis, the doctor will ask about your symptoms, family history and will perform a physical exam.
The latter is to identify possible structural abnormalities or risk factors for the disease. The most important parameter to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea is a polysomnogram. This test measures multiple factors or your sleep process. This helps determine if you are really experiencing apnea episodes during your sleep.
There is no definite cure for this disease. The treatment will depend on the severity of the symptoms. Only trained doctors, like sleep specialists, can determine the right treatment for this condition. The most common approach includes CPAP therapy and oral appliance therapy. They will not cure the disease, but they will improve the symptoms and the quality of your life.
This tool is not intended to substitute a medical diagnosis. The only purpose of this tool is to tell you how likely you are to have this condition. Keep in mind that you need a doctor to certify the diagnosis and decide what treatment works best for you.
I invite you to use this tool to know if you have any risk factors for OSA. It is straightforward to use; you only have to answer a series of questions. The results are available almost immediately.
Do you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and take treatment for it?
Do you have a neck circumference of more than 43 cm [17 in] for males or more than 37 cm [15 in] for females? (Google how to measure your neck circumference)
Do you snore (usually loud)and habitually is bothersome to others?
Have someone witnessed apneas (suddenly stop breathing) in you, which often interrupt the snoring and end with a snort?
Do you have gasping and/or choking sensations that arouse you from sleep?
Do you wake up one or more times during the night for urinating?
Do you wake up from your sleep time like you did not rest at all? “waking up as tired as when they went to bed”
Do you have morning headache, dry or sore throat?
Do you feel tired or exhausted all the time during the day?
Do you feel sleepy during quiet activities like reading or watching television?
Have you been diagnosed with Adenotonsillar hypertrophy, Pierre Robin syndrome, Down syndrome, Marfan syndrome, or Prader-Willi syndrome?
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