Sleep Apnoea: The Condition You Might Be Sleeping Through

If you’ve ever been elbowed in the ribs for snoring, you’re in good company. If the snoring comes with morning headaches, a dry mouth and the kind of tiredness that no amount of coffee touches, it might be worth a closer look.

Sleep apnoea is one of the most common health conditions in Australia and one of the most missed, because it happens while you’re asleep and most people who have it, have no idea.

What is sleep apnoea?

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) happens when the muscles in your throat relax during sleep, and the airway narrows or closes altogether. Breathing is reduced or stops for a short time, from ten seconds up to a minute or more, and blood oxygen levels fall. These episodes may happen many times, even hundreds of times, overnight

You almost certainly won’t remember any of it. What you’ll notice is waking up feeling like you never really slept.

A narrow, floppy throat is also more likely to vibrate during sleep, which is what causes snoring. That’s why snoring and sleep apnoea so often turn up together, though snoring on its own doesn’t mean you have it, and some people with sleep apnoea don’t snore at all.

How common is it?

Sleep apnoea is more common than most people realise. Around one in four Australian men over the age of 30 are affected. It is often thought of as a men’s condition, and it is more common in men, but that reputation causes problems of its own. Sleep apnoea of any severity can be present in up to half of adult women, and women are often diagnosed later because clinicians are less likely to suspect it.

Research suggests around one in ten Australians may have undiagnosed sleep apnoea. That’s a lot of people putting up with being tired and assuming it’s just how life is.

The signs to watch for

Some signs you will notice yourself, while others may be noticed by someone else first.

What a partner might see:

• Loud, persistent snoring
• Pauses in breathing during sleep
• Gasping, choking or snorting sounds
• Restless, disturbed sleep

What you might feel:

• Waking unrefreshed, no matter how long you were in bed
• Daytime sleepiness, nodding off watching TV, or worse, while driving
• Morning headaches
• Waking with a dry mouth or sore throat
• Trouble concentrating, or a memory that isn’t what it was
• Irritability or low mood
• Getting up to go to the toilet through the night

You don’t need all of these. If a few sound familiar, particularly loud snoring plus daytime tiredness, it is worth a conversation with your local WholeLife pharmacist.

Who is more at risk?

Sleep apnoea can affect anyone, but risk is higher if you:

• Carry extra weight, particularly around the neck and middle
• Are over 40
• Are male, or a woman who has been through menopause
• Have a naturally narrow airway, large tonsils or a receding jaw
• Have nasal congestion or a deviated septum
• Smoke, or drink alcohol close to bedtime
• Take sedatives or sleeping tablets
• Have a family history of it

Weight is a factor, but plenty of people with sleep apnoea are a perfectly healthy weight. Anatomy plays a big part and you can’t do much about the jaw you were born with.

Why it matters

Being tired is the part everyone notices. The rest is the part that matters more.

Each time your breathing is interrupted, your body treats it as a small emergency. Oxygen drops, your heart rate and blood pressure rise. Repeated hundreds of times a night, every night, that adds up.

Evidence indicates that people with moderate to severe sleep apnoea have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, depression, high blood pressure and diabetes.

There’s a more immediate risk too. People with sleep apnoea are approximately two and a half times more likely to have a motor vehicle accident. Broken night-time sleep leads to less alertness, slower reaction times and poorer concentration but the risk of accidents. If your job involves driving or operating machinery, that’s worth taking seriously.

And it isn’t only your health. Snoring keeps a bed partner awake, and sometimes people in other parts of the house. Some partners lie awake making sure the person starts breathing again after a pause.

The encouraging part: it is treatable. People who get it sorted often describe it as getting a decade of energy back.

How WholeLife can help

Sleep health is part of your overall health, and it is something our pharmacists take seriously.

Many WholeLife Pharmacy & Healthfoods stores offer a comprehensive sleep assessment and home sleep study, combined with ongoing pharmacy support. That means you can start the conversation somewhere familiar, close to home, without a long wait and with someone who’ll still be there afterwards.

Here’s what that looks like:

Start with a conversation. Tell us what you’ve noticed, or what your partner has noticed. No appointment needed for a first chat.

A proper assessment. Where a sleep study is appropriate, many of our stores can arrange one you do at home, in your own bed.

Support that continues. Treatment for sleep apnoea only works if you stick with it and the early weeks are where most people struggle. Having a pharmacist, you can drop in on, makes a real difference.

Working with your GP. Keep your doctor in the loop who can refer on to a sleep specialist where that’s the right next step.

The first step is a conversation

If you’ve been tired for a long time and put it down to age, work or stress, it might be worth ruling this out.

Speak to the team at your local WholeLife Pharmacy & Healthfoods. We are here for your health and wellbeing, and that includes how you sleep.

References:

https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/sleep-disorders/obstructive-sleep-apnoea
https://www.ausmed.com.au/learn/articles/obstructive-sleep-apnoea
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9243270/
https://snoremd.com.au/whos-more-affected-sleep-apnoea-in-australia/
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/obstructive-sleep-apnoea

This article is general information only and is not a substitute for medical advice. If you’re concerned about your sleep or your health, speak to your pharmacist or doctor. Sleep assessment services are available at participating stores.