Snoring and Sleep Apnea
In Europe, about 25% of people snore every night, and one person out of two declares that they live with a snoring person. This amounts to 15 million snorers in the UK alone.
The problem may be common, but it is certainly not trivial. Besides spoiling the night's sleep of these people (two out of three snorers say they are often tired and in a bad mood), snoring is frequently caused by sleep apnea. The latter multiplies by five the risk of cancer and greatly increases the cardiovascular and diabetes risks.
Although many solutions exist, previously, none seemed to satisfy snorers, who suffer as a result from fragmented, less restful sleep, eventually leading to a considerable negative impact on their health, work and social life. This is where Nastent™ comes in - a solution like no other.
1/ Chays 1, Florent 1. Le ronflement. Abrégés Masson 2010, 136p, p:9-21 -2/ Pessey JJ, Lombard L. Ronchopathie chronique. EMC,ORL 20, 261-A10, 2001, 15p. - 3/ Claire Gourier-Fréry et Claire Fuhrman, Département des maladies chroniques et traumatismes, Institutnational de veille Sanitaire (2012) - 4/ Damien Bidaine, Gérard Vincent, En finir avec les ronflements, 2015, p129. - 5/ Shahar et al.Sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease: cross-sectional results of the Sleep HeartHealth Study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001 Jan;163(1):19-25.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS)
What is the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome?
Influence of OSAS
OSAS (Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome) occupies the highest proportion of sleep-disordered breathing.
Loud snoring and apnea are the typical symptoms of it during sleep. Due to this, the patient cannot sleep well and feel drowsiness during the daytime leading to lose of concentration. It also slows down the recovery from fatigue, affecting the autonomic nervous system.
Causes of OSAS
Although the obstructed airway may not be fully clasped the narrowed airway will cause the airway to vibrate and make sounds (snoring). It is diagnosed as OSAS when a patient's “breathing stops for undefined sec or longer” or when “hypopnea with low oxygen levels” occurs undefined times or more per hour.
Hypopnea is defined as a more than 10-second period when the breathing is reduced by 50 percent or more.
OSAS can be difficult for patient's to notice
Since SAS occurs during sleep, it is difficult for patients to notice their own SAS, and it will most likely be noticed by surroundings first.
Regardless of sleepiness, OSAS (Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome) may manifest through depression, mood swings, frequent urination at night (nocturia), or hypertension.
SAS and complications
(3) Many SAS patients also suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and/or cerebral hemorrhage, which may be caused by SAS. Although, SAS may be causing these lifestyle-related diseases, it may not be noticed since it has no conspicuous obvious symptoms.
In recent years, medical research has highlighted the link between OSAS and these diseases. OSA-induced apneas result in lower oxygen levels in the blood and increased heart rate. Under these conditions, research confirms a 20% increase in the probability of developing heart disease such as myocardial infarction (5). Similarly, the risk of heart failure is 2,4 times higher than for a healthy person (6).
In addition, the excitation of the orthosympathetic nervous system caused by the reduction of the level of oxygen in the blood and frequent arousals due to OSA lead to high blood pressure, with a risk 1,4 to 2,9 times higher than the normal to have high blood pressure (7). It has also been shown that OSAS has an influence on psychological disorders such as depression. Further research is underway to determine possible correlations with other diseases.
