Sleep apnoea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and you feel tired even after a full night's sleep.
If you think you might have sleep apnoea, see your doctor. Treatment is necessary to avoid heart problems and other complications.
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a relatively common condition which is thought to affect 2-4 % of middle aged men and 1-2% of middle aged women.
In people who have the condition there is repetitive collapse of the airway throughout the night at the level of the throat. Airway closure in turn leads to a brief awakening (termed an arousal) and the brain then activates the muscles necessary to hold the airway open while the lungs take two or three large breaths before the airway collapses again. Episodes of airway closure may occur frequently: in the most severe patients this may be more often than once every minute. Frequent awakening through the night causes daytime tiredness in some but not all patients.
