Treating OSA

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Anchor lead: Obstructive sleep apnea should first be treated as simply as possible, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, most often shows up as snoring. When someone is sleeping their airway becomes obstructed and snoring results, and the condition is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events as well as hazardous daytime sleepiness. Robin Yang, a specialist in the condition at Johns Hopkins, describes what can be done to help.

Yang: The first line of treatment is always the least invasive. It not only starts with CPAP but it also starts with diet modification and other things that could potentially help you with your sleep habits. However if patients can’t undergo diet modification or lose some weight, CPAP machines do a great job of increasing the airflow through your nasal and oral pharynx as you’re sleeping. However we found in studies that up to 80% of people don’t enjoy having that, as well as the lack of compliance meaning it only works if you wear it.  :31

Yang says surgical options do exist to treat OSA. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.