Sleep apnea constitutes the lion's share of the diagnoses sleep clinicians see in their clinics. One of the most misunderstood and poorly managed conditions I see is mild sleep apnea, or individuals who generally have 5-15 breathing problems/hour. In this episode we will:
- start with the basics of sleep apnea: What is it?
- understand the difference between obstructive and central apnea
- define what constitutes and apnea (or hypopnea) and how those tallies are utilized to arrive at not only a diagnosis, but a severity designation for the condition
- look at the literature and why some experts advocate treating mild sleep apnea and while other do not
- understand how patients can sometimes get caught in a situation where they are aggressively treating a mild condition in which the benefits may be few or nonexistent.
- begin a much larger dialogue aimed at understanding the nuances of sleep apnea, a very common sleep disorder.
Produced by: Maeve Winter
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Thanks for listening and sleep well!
