Treatment and Prevention
There's no medication therapy for sleep apnea, but several treatments are known to be successful, alone or in combination:
- lifestyle changes - These can help eliminate factors that cause or aggravate sleep apnea. If the condition is related to obesity, losing weight can often solve the problem. Sleeping on your side, quitting smoking, and avoiding alcohol and tranquilizers (which can worsen snoring and interfere with control of breathing) all help to control sleep apnea.
- continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP): A special close-fitting mask is worn over the nose and provides a constant airflow from a small machine to the upper airway, supporting and holding it open. So far, this is the most successful treatment for sleep apnea, no matter what the cause, often making a noticeable difference after only 1 or 2 nights.
- dental appliances: These can be worn at night to stop the throat from closing up or the tongue from falling back, keeping the airway open. These are useful for OSA, especially when it is mild or when there is a snoring tendency without sleep apnea.
- surgery: As a last resort, excess soft tissue can be removed to clear the airway. This works for heavy snoring, but only seems to help in about 50% of sleep apnea cases.
Andrew Schriber, MD, FCCP, Specialist in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Virtua Memorial Hospital, Mount Holly, New Jersey. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.