Snoring, the sound of a "killer" at night
In the hot summer, many people will not sleep well at night and lack energy during the day, which affects both work and normal life. Xu Jing (pseudonym), who works in a bank, has been suffering from this kind of trouble recently. He always feels sleepy, and when he wakes up, he feels very tired. He often has chest tightness, shortness of breath, and snoring. To this end, he went to the hospital, and the doctor said that the symptoms were related to snoring.
Experts say that in life, many people don't care about snoring, and even think that it is a sign of sound sleep. In fact, it may be the "killer" sound at night, that is, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, the disease. Not only will it affect the quality of sleep, but there will even be a risk of sudden death.
Sleep apnea is often overlooked in its early stages
Han Fang, secretary general of the World Sleep Society and director of the Sleep Center of Peking University People's Hospital, emphasized that snoring is a disease, but it was often ignored in the early stages.
1 in 5 people who snore has obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
Han Fang pointed out that sleep apnea syndrome is a sleep disorder characterized by repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. As a chronic progressive disease, if it is not paid attention to, it will affect sleep, reduce blood oxygen saturation, and further lead to Hypertension, coronary heart disease, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, diabetes, respiratory insufficiency, may also lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, dementia, etc., and will also affect pregnant women and fetuses, and even severe cases may occur during late night sleep. sudden death.
According to statistics, the sudden death rate of patients with sleep apnea syndrome is 3 times higher than that of people without the disease. Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment are very important.
So, in life, how do we recognize sleep apnea syndrome?
According to Han Fang, if there are any of the following snoring sounds, it proves to be apnea: First, the snoring is so loud that it can be heard in the next room; second, the snoring is uneven, and the snoring is relatively light in the general supine position and after drinking. And evenly, the snoring of patients with apnea will suddenly "silence" during the period, and after a few tens of seconds, there will be a hooked snoring sound; third, the patient's family members often describe it in this way, sweating profusely and kicking. He kicked his arms, but turned over and snored again.
In addition, if you always have dry mouth and need to prepare water at the bedside during sleep, it is caused by snoring and mouth breathing, and you should also beware of apnea syndrome.
Young adults aged 30-50 are vulnerable
Han Fang emphasized that sleep apnea is a "killer" at night, especially for young adults.
Clinical surveys have found that the most serious sleep apnea is mostly young adults aged 30-50, but there are fewer such patients over 65 years old.
Han Fang believes that people in this age group usually have old and young people, wake up early and go to bed late. Some people also drink and socialize frequently, travel frequently, and work pressure leads to obesity, poor sleep, and feeling powerless.
Then there is the improvement of living standards, driving more and walking less, these are the factors that lead to sleep apnea.
"Although death caused by sleep apnea is very common, many people don't understand it." Han Fang said, for example, some patients suffered sudden death at night after drinking, which was mostly attributed to sudden cardiac death, but the real "murderer" of apnea was "Get away with it"; another part of the patients died from obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc. associated with long-term apnea.
Guo Xiheng, director of the Sleep Medicine Center of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said that in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of snoring patients, one of the most prominent features of obstructive sleep apnea is sleep disturbance. In short, snoring patients may not necessarily sleep breathing. Suspended, and obstructive sleep apnea patients have snoring, so people who have both snoring and apnea during sleep should pay special attention.
If there is obvious apnea, causing obvious hypoxia, and then various damages to the body, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, endocrine disorders, mood changes, mental disorders, etc., it means that the person needs intervention and needs to be treated by a doctor. Under the guidance of the first screening, standardized treatment after diagnosis.
Pregnant women snoring may harm the fetus in the womb
It should be emphasized that in sleep medicine, there is a special group of pregnant women.
According to Han Fang, according to research, 50% of expectant mothers with sleep apnea usually develop hypertension and preeclampsia in the third cycle of pregnancy, that is, between 20 and 21 weeks of pregnancy. There was significant hypoxemia.
At this time, fetal heart rate monitoring is performed, and the fetus will experience a crisis such as a drop in heart rate along with the mother's breathing apnea.
"In Peking University People's Hospital, the proportion of pregnant women with sleep disorders is not low, at least about 10%. The most common symptom is snoring, some before pregnancy, some after pregnancy, and with the increase of gestational weeks, Snoring is becoming more and more frequent." Liu Guoli, chief physician of the obstetrics department of Peking University People's Hospital, said that in recent years, we have cooperated with the hospital's sleep center to find mandibular retraction, tonsil hypertrophy, etc. Pregnant women with high risk factors such as frequent urination and poor sleep.
Because expectant mothers in a state of hypoxia will affect the development of the baby in the womb, and the probability of low birth weight babies, severe asphyxia and other high-risk babies will increase.
Han Fang said that the sleep problems of pregnant women need more attention.
When pregnant women experience daytime drowsiness, snoring at night, suffocation, nocturia, and dry mouth in the morning, they should be careful about sleep apnea.
Pregnant women with a high risk of sleep apnea should be screened in the first trimester, and once they meet the conditions requiring medical intervention, they should be managed throughout the pregnancy cycle.
In terms of treatment, pregnant women usually choose conservative treatment because of their particularity.
Liu Guoli said that in the past, she could only be hospitalized in such a situation. In the event of emergency rescue, she will now use a simple ventilator for them, which can help them get through this most difficult stage, prolong the pregnancy cycle as much as possible, and ensure the health of the baby. .
In addition, in the event of an emergency with a high risk of hypertensive surgery, it may be possible to temporarily use a ventilator to adjust the blood pressure to reduce the blood pressure and ensure the safety of the surgery.
Children who snore a lot may turn ugly
Some children also snore when they sleep, so parents must pay enough attention.
Because healthy children rarely snore, snoring is a danger signal from the body.
"Children who are in the physiological development period often snore, and it is very likely that the facial contour will change." Gao Xuemei, chief physician of Peking University Stomatological Hospital, pointed out that because the child breathes through the mouth for a long time instead of breathing through the nose, the nasal cavity is not stimulated by airflow for a long time, which will cause Hypoplasia of the nasal cavity, resulting in the high arching and protruding of the upper palate between the nasal cavity and the oral cavity, followed by the widening of the distance between the eyes, the collapse of the bridge of the nose, the thickening of the lips, irregular teeth, prominent upper incisors, lack of expression and other facial development The deformed and ugly "adenoid face".
However, Gao Xuemei also said that parents should not be too anxious, as long as they are found early, such children do not need surgery in the early stage, and can be treated by wearing non-invasive ventilators and oral appliances.
(Our reporter Tian Yating, our correspondent Zhong Yanyu)