Copy of `Sleep Apnoea Trust - Index of sleep apnoea terms`

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Sleep Apnoea Trust - Index of sleep apnoea terms Category: Health and Medicine > Sleep Apnoea Date & country: 15/12/2007, UK Words: 61

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
Don't bother with the pronunciation - say UPPP or U-triple P instead! The operation that cuts away part of the soft palate and side wall of the pharynx (or throat) in an attempt to reduce snoring volumes. Not very effective and extremely painful.

Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome
A general term for obstructive sleep apnoea and heavy snoring. Used to describe the relationship between upper airway narrowing during sleep, sleep disruption, and the daytime consequences of excessive sleepiness.

Tonsils
Collection of tissues involved in fighting infection on the side walls of the throat, which usually melt away by the age of 8 or so, but may persist and partly block the pharynx or throat.

Tracheostomy
Creating a hole into the windpipe from outside, just below the Adam's apple. Sometimes needed in many different conditions, and used to be the main treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (opened at night, closed during the day) to bypass the obstruction in the throat.

Strychnine
Has been tried to cure sleep apnoea! Works a bit, but there are worries that spouses might be tempted to give an overdose at 3 am when the snoring is particularly bad!

Slow Wave Sleep
See sleep stages.

Snoring Arousals
Sleep can be disturbed not only by actual episodes of stopping breathing, but also by snoring alone (when a big increase in breathing effort is required to overcome the narrowing of the upper airway that led to the snoring).

Silastic Ring Gastroplasty
An operation to limit eating (the last resort!), not very pleasant. If you overeat you are sick.

Sleep Stages
Sleep is conventionally divided into five stages. Four of these are called non-REM sleep, the other is REM (or Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. REM sleep is when we dream, and the brain is virtually awake. Non_REM sleep is graded 1 to 4 and represents increasing depths of sleep. This is the sleep required to refresh, with the two deeper stages 3 and 4 called slow wave sleep.

Scoliosis
A twisting of the spine that can limit lung expansion and lead to problems of underbreathing, which can be alleviated by overnight breathing support.

Rem Sleep
See sleep stages.

Rinatec
Nasal spray that reduces congestion and discharge. Can be used on a long term basis. Prescription only.

Polysomnography
Simply means a recording of lots of things during sleep. Has come to mean recording at least EEG, EMG and EDG all night.

Pickwickian Syndrome
An old term for large people with problems of underbreathing. Included a lot of diagnosis. No longer used by those that know!

Pharynx
Essentially the throat area between the voice box and the back of the nose behind the tongue. A floppy muscular tube.

Panic Arousals
Episodes of aweking with sensation of panic. Sometimes due to bad dreams and stress, or as a consequence of waking and sensing the upper airway is blocked.

Palate
The soft tissue flap that hangs down the back of the throat attached to the roof of the mouth. The tip is also called the uvula. The whole structure is often called the soft palate to differentiate it from the roof of the mouth (a bony structure), also called the hard palate.

Oximeter
Monitoring device that continuously measures the level of oxygen (oxygen saturation) in the blood by measuring its colour: usually done with a clothes peg like clip on the finger or ear. A common way to analyse the overnight tracing is to count the number of dips in oxygen.

Otrivine
Nasal spray to reduce congestion. Can only be used for up to five nights consecutively: therefore of most use during a cold. Can be obtained over the counter without prescription.

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (Osa)
Episodes of stopping breathing at night due to obstruction of the upper airway from narrowing during sleep. Produces sleep disruption, and the daytime consequence of excessive sleepiness.

Nocturia
Excessive urine production at night. Seen in sleep apnoea quite often.

Non Rem Sleep
See sleep stages.

Neck Circumference
One of the best predictors of whether there are upper airway problems during sleep. More than 16' - could be a snorer, more than 17' could have sleep apnoea. One can still have sleep apnoea with smaller necks but it is less common.

Nasal Cpap
The process of delivering a continuously raised airway pressure via a mask on the nose. Hence nasal Continuous Positive (as opposed to negative) Airway Pressure treatment.

Narcolepsy
A cause of daytime sleepiness due to an inherited disorder of the control of dreaming sleep. Has to be differentiated from sleep apnoea, periodic leg movements and other rarer causes of daytime sleepiness.

Muffles
Wax ear plugs. Less comfortable than the foam ones but more effective. From most chemists.

Micro Arousals
Very brief 'awakenings', perhaps only seen when the brain waves (EEG) are being monitored.

Movement Arousal
These are short awakenings with minor body movements of which the sleeper is unaware.

Manometer
Device to measure the pressure being delivered by a CPAP machine (usually measured in centimetres of water {cmH20} - where a common CPAP pressure is about 10).

Mandibular Advancement Device (Mad)
Intra-oral device worn at night to hold the mouth closed and the lower jaw forward. Increases the space behind the tongue, which lessens snoring and may help obstructive sleep apnoea. Obtained from dentists.

Laser
Used by surgeons as an alternative to a scalpel. Cuts and coagulates vessels (lessens bleeding) at the same time.

Laser Assisted Uppp (Laup)
Fancy version of a conventional UPPP, but unlikely to be any better.

Insomnia
Being awake when you want to be asleep. Often thought of as a problem,but may not be. Common if people try to spend too long in bed.

Hypoxic Dips
The falls in oxygen levels, seen on the oximeter, that usually accompany apnoeas. Also know as desaturations, because when it is not hypoxic the blood is described as fully saturated with oxygen.

Hypoxia
When the body is short of oxygen and therefore the level in the blood falls.

Hypothryoidism
Also known as myxoedema (mix-ee-dee-ma). When the thyroid gland fails to make enough thyroid hormone. Can present as obstructive sleep apnoea and snoring.

Hypnogram
The final print out of all the night sleep stages (REM and non-REM).

Hypopnoea
A period of underbreathing, conventionally for more than 10 seconds.

Hypersomnolence
Technical expression for excessive sleepiness.

Hypercapnia
A raised level of carbon dioxide in the blood. This is the gas normally breathed out which will rise if breathing is inadequate. Usually measured by taking an arterial blood sample.

Epworth Sleepiness Scale
Eight questions asking about tendency to drop off at inappropriate times, used to guage how sleepy someone is.

Flixonase
see Beconase

Electro-Oculogram (Eog)
Recording of eye movements, required for sleep staging to define rapid eye movement sleep (or dreaming sleep).

Electro-Encephalogram
(EEG, most people only use the abbreviation). Recording of brain waves, required for sleep staging.

Electro-Myogram (Emg)
Recording of muscle activity. Used as part of sleep staging.

Ear
Foam earplugs, the most comfortable available, but not as good as wax ones. They are little foam cylinders that are rolled up into a thin core which then slowly expands after insertion into the ear canal. Like all earplugs, they take two or three nights to get used to. Available from most chemists.

Dental Device
see Mandibular Advancement Device.

Desaturations
see Hypoxic Dips.

Diaphragm
Main muscle of breathing between the bottom of the chest and stomach; pulls the lungs out, thus drawing in air.

Cpap
See Nasal CPAP

Cyanosis
The bluey colour one goes when low in oxygen.

Chin Support - Strap
A strap or loop of material passing under the chin, sometimes needed to hold the mouth closed to prevent air leaks during nasal CPAP or nasal ventilation.

Cheyne-Stokes-Breathing
Breathing that cycles up and down, also know as periodic breathing. Found in people with heart failure and neurological problems.

Central Apnoea
Episodes of stopping breathing, not due to obstruction of the upper airway, but due to the brain simply failing to ask for a breath. Much less common than obstructive sleep apnoea and needs nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) as a treatment, rather than nasal CPAP.

Cataplexy
Sudden loss of muscle power, with collapse onto the ground, but no loss of consciousness. A feature of narcolepsy that occurs particularly during moments of excitement or anticipation.

Beconase
Nasal steroid spray. Extremely useful to reduce nasal inflammation and swelling. Can be used for long periods. Flixonase is very similar but is prescription only.

Auto Cpap Machine
A clever computerised CPAP machine that adjusts its pressure automatically. Used in sleep labs, but probably no better than fixed pressure machines for home use.

Anaesthesia
A dangerous time for people with sleep apnoea. The anaesthetic drugs, pre-medication sedatives and post operative pain relief drugs can all worsen sleep apnoea.

Apnoea
A pause in breathing; conventionally more than 10 seconds. From the Greek a (without) ponea (breath).

Alcohol
A useful adjunct to relaxation but unfortunately it also relaxes the throat muscles and provokes snoring and obstructive apnoea.

Acromegaly
A curious condition of increased growth hormone production in adults that can present as an obstructive sleep apnoea.