Lack of sleep can lead to a variety of complications that negatively impact your health, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. And there are many causes for lack of sleep, one of which is periodic breathing. Let’s get to know about periodic breathing better.
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Periodic Breathing – Is It Dangerous?
What Is Periodic Breathing?
Periodic breathing, also known as periodic respiration or Cheyne-stoke respiration, is an abnormal pattern of breaths separated by apnea (no breathing) or near-apnea intervals. It’s unlike natural breathing, which is normally consistent.
These cycles can last anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes on average. This respiratory condition can happen when you’re asleep or awake, but it’s considered to be more likely while you’re sleeping.
Periodic breathing was once considered the result of severe neurologic or cardiovascular disease, with a bleak prognosis. Periodic breathing is known to occur during sleep in stable individuals. The apnea in periodic breathing is generally central (without respiratory movements) rather than obstructive (caused by an upper-airway blockage).
What Are the Symptoms of Periodical Breathing?
People with periodic breathing usually experience:
- Snoring
- Morning headaches
- Insomnia (difficulty staying asleep)
- Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea
- Orthopnea or shortness of breath when lying down
- Excess daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia) and fatigue due to the interrupted sleep
- Chest pain during the night
- Mood swings
- Trouble concentrating
Snoring can be detected in the case of central sleep apnea, even though it suggests a degree of airflow disturbance. On the other hand, Snoring can not be as noticeable in central sleep apnea as it is in obstructive sleep apnea.
Who Is at Risk?
This condition can occur in people with congestive heart failure or neurological conditions. A study found that about half of the people with moderate to severe congestive heart failure also experienced Cheyne-stokes respiration.
This condition is also recognized as a factor of central sleep apnea syndrome. However, many cases of Cheyne-Stokes can go unnoticed, mainly because it occurs more often while sleeping.
How to Treat and Prevent Periodic Breathing
Basing on the cause of periodic breathing, you can have different treatments.
- Supplemental oxygen. Many studies point out that it’s necessary to supply short-term oxygen to reduce the effects of periodic breathing, especially during the night. Also, night oxygen therapy has been shown to ease the patient’s symptoms, improve their quality of life and function of their left ventricle being one of the heart chambers.
- Heart failure treatment. Cheyne-Stokes respiration signs can be alleviated by treating the underlying congestive heart failure. The treatments include:
- Pacemaker and other devices
- Medication
- Heart transplant
- Cardiac valve surgery
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Prevention
Cheyne-Stokes respiration can be prevented by avoiding the medical problems associated with it, such as heart disease and stroke. If you’re having these conditions, you need to make sure to follow the treatment and medication from your healthcare providers strictly.
Avoiding exposure to toxins, allergens, irritants, and pollutants can also help reduce the risk of developing periodic breathing. Furthermore, you can use a helpful tool to assist you in keeping a close eye on your breathing and health. By implementing cutting-edge technology into the medical field, Hyfe was able to create an application on mobile devices just for that.
Hyfe app can recognize your cough and breathing pattern thanks to Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. It counts every time you cough or sneeze, which will give you a deeper insight into your overall health and conditions.
How did you find this article? Let us know in the comment section below what other health conditions you want us to cover next!
Hyfe uses artificial intelligence to identify coughs. It counts every cough and allows you to compare and track your coughing over time. This gives you objective insights into your coughing and can help you monitor your health in the context of pollution, asthma, or even Covid19. Stay on top of your health by tracking your cough.
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