Bappi Lahiri death: What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Bollywood’s Disco King Bappi Lahiri died in Mumbai last night at the age of 69. He was under treatment for multiple health issues. The composer had been in the hospital for a month. He was discharged on Monday (February 14). But on Tuesday (February 15) he was brought to the hospital as his health condition worsened. He died at 11.45 pm last night at Criticare hospital, Juhu, Mumbai.
Bappi Lahiri, who was born Alokesh had composed numerous superhit Bollywood songs in the 80s and the 90s. His loss has left the film fraternity and fans in shock.
“He had multiple health issues. He died due to OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) shortly before midnight,” Dr Deepak Namjoshi, director of CritiCare hospital told PTI.
WHAT IS OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA?
Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder, in which breathing stops and starts repeatedly. There are several kinds of sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder.
During sleep, air should smoothly flow into lungs without any interruptions. In obstructive sleep apnea, the muscles of your throat relax at irregular intervals and block the airways. It momentarily cuts off your breathing.
These periods when breathing stops completely are called apneic episodes or apnea.
WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENS?
In obstructive sleep apnea the soft muscles in the back of your throat including your tongue relax too much. This stops normal breathing and narrows your airways or even closes them. It leads to breathlessness for 10 seconds or longer. After this, your brain quickly wakes you up so that you can reopen your airways.
Due to irregular breathing, the oxygen levels in the body drops.
This pattern happens so quickly that many patients don’t remember it the next morning. It also takes place 2 to 30 times or more every hour.
SYMPTOMS OF OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA
1. Loud snoring:
Loud snoring while sleeping is the first noticeable symptoms of this sleep, breathing disorder. Due to this, the person may experience dry mouth or a sore throat in the morning.
2. Stopped breathing during sleep:
One might notice a few episodes of stopped breathing while sleeping initially.
3. Gasping or choking at night:
While sleeping, this condition leads to disruption in breathing. One might wake up immediately during that moment with a feeling of choking or gasping.
4. Sleepiness throughout the day:
Due to irregular breathing pattern at night, the patient is likely to experience disturbed sleeping patterns. This further leads to excessive sleepiness during daytime.
5. Unhealthy sleep cycle further leads to:
- Morning headache
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Reduced libido
RISK FACTORS OF OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA
Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in older males. But menopause also puts women during the post-menopause period at an equally higher rate of developing the condition.
This condition can also affect children and pregnant women.
People with a large tongue or narrow airways are also at a higher risk.
Some existing health conditions can also increase the risk of obstructive sleep apnea. These include obesity, hypothyroidism, PCOS and chronic lung diseases.
Smoking also increases your chances of obstructive sleep apnea.
WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR
Snoring is a common condition experienced by many. Not everyone who snores has obstructive sleep apnea. But if snoring is too loud, accompanied by breathing difficulties, you must see a doctor.
If you experience any other above-mentioned symptoms with snoring, you must seek medical help on time.
If left untreated, obstructive sleep apnea can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, stroke, diabetes or abnormal heart rhythm.