Heart Failure

What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is an involuntary cessation of breathing that occurs while you are asleep — it is a serious sleep problem. If you have it, you stop breathing for at least 10 seconds at a time. It can happen many times while you sleep. 

There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central and mixed. 
  • Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common. It is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. The blockage stops the movement of air. 
  • In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. 
  • Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of the two. 
Each type of apnea event causes the amount of oxygen in the blood to drop. The brain then wakes the sleeper, usually only partially, to signal breathing to resume. As a result, sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality. 

Things that can contribute to sleep apnea:
  • Snoring 
  • Being overweight 
  • Drinking alcohol, especially before bedtime 
  • High blood pressure 
  • Diabetes 
  • An abnormal sleep pattern 
  • Family history of sleep apnea 
  • Over the age of 40 
  • Tobacco usage 
What are the symptoms? 
  • Loud snoring interrupted with pauses in breathing followed by loud gasps 
  • Morning headaches 
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness/fatigue 
  • Trouble with memory or concentrating 
  • Anxiety, irritability or depression 
  • Sleepiness while driving 
  • Awaken with a dry mouth or sore throat 
  • Insomnia 
  • Not feeling rested when you wake up in the morning 
Just because you snore does not mean you have sleep apnea, but nearly everyone who has sleep apnea snores. If you snore and feel you do not usually get a good night’s rest, you should ask your clinician if you might have sleep apnea. 

How is it diagnosed? 
Your clinician will ask you about your health history and your family’s health history. A physical exam will be performed — checking your nose, mouth and throat for anything that may be blocking your airway. You may need a sleep study, also called a polysomnogram, in a sleep center or sleep lab. You will stay overnight for the sleep study. The care team will place sensors on your head, face, chest, arms, legs and fingers. The sensors will give information about your brain activity, breathing, oxygen levels and heart rate while you sleep. This process is painless. The information collected will help determine if you have sleep apnea and what treatment is best for you. 

How is it treated?
It is very important to treat sleep apnea. Untreated sleep apnea can have serious and long-term effects on your health. It may increase your risk of high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms, heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and sudden death. Effective treatment of sleep apnea may result in normal blood pressure, relief of fatigue and weight loss. 

The most common treatment is the use of a positive airway pressure machine that includes a breathing mask. The mask is worn over the nose, or sometimes nose and mouth, to deliver pressurized air to your throat. The increased pressure prevents the airway from becoming blocked. The pressurized air is supplied through a flexible tube from one of several types of machines: CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) and VPAP (variable positive airway pressure). How much pressure you need and the type of machine you need are determined by the sleep study. Your healthcare team will carefully supervise your use of this machine as minor adjustments may need to be made so it works right for you. 

The healthcare team may also suggest a weight loss program if you are overweight. The excess tissue in your throat can contribute to the severity of your sleep apnea. It may be hard for you to lose weight because you are extremely tired and lack the energy to exercise. The use of a positive airway pressure machine may help you rest well enough to begin changes in your diet and increase your physical activity so you can lose weight. 

Surgery may be an option if you can’t use the machine regularly and properly. A surgical treatment might include improving the air passage in the nose, removing tonsils or moving the back of the tongue forward. Oral devices also have a definite role in the treatment of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. They look like mouthguards or retainers. The device is worn in the mouth during sleep. Most of them work by positioning the lower jaw slightly forward. This small change is, in many people, enough to keep the airway open during sleep.

My Heart Group
My Heart Support Group provides information to people, as well as their loved ones, who have heart conditions, specifically heart failure. At the meeting, you will find resources to take home, such as low-sodium food charts, recipes and other educational materials. The event also includes low-sodium snacks, drinks and drawings for door prizes. A speaker presents for most meetings with a focus on anything related to the diagnosis of heart failure. Any speaker who presents in St. Cloud will be broadcast to the My Heart Group at Melrose via the web. A facilitator at CentraCare – Melrose will lead table-top discussions on the subjects presented, serve low-sodium snacks and hold a door prize drawing. The meeting usually lasts around 1-1½ hours.

The group meets at 3 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at CentraCare South Point, 3001 Clearwater Rd, St. Cloud, and CentraCare - Melrose, 525 W Main St. You may also join the meeting online. Video conferencing will allow Melrose and online participants to watch the speaker presentation in St. Cloud through Microsoft Teams.

Guest Speaker
  • Oct. 21: Juliana Da Silva, Cardiac Rehab - Chair Yoga and Home Exercises
To RSVP, email HFSupportGroup@centracare.com or leave a message at 320-470-0760. Include which location and how many people will be attending.
 
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