Sleep Apnea Occurs When Breathing Stops for Over 10 Seconds During Sleep
Difficulty Supplying Oxygen to the Body Causes Various Problems
Comedian Lee Guk-joo attracted attention after being diagnosed with sleep apnea when she visited a hospital due to snoring.
On the 3rd, a video titled "I didn't want to film this either! Please fix my snoring" was uploaded on the YouTube channel ‘Lee Guk-joo’.
Lee Guk-joo, who usually snores heavily, underwent an examination at a specialized hospital upon a friend's recommendation. Lee Guk-joo's friend said, "She exercises for two hours a day, but her body swells because she can't sleep well."
The hospital test results showed that Lee Guk-joo had a score of '57.9'. The attending physician explained, "This means she stops breathing 58 times per hour, or once every minute." He added, "Sleep apnea causes an increase in carbon dioxide in the body during sleep, which negatively affects health," and recommended that Lee Guk-joo use a positive airway pressure (PAP) device.
Sleep apnea is generally defined as a condition where a person snores and stops breathing for at least 10 seconds during sleep. If the number of times breathing stops for more than 10 seconds is 5 to 15 times per hour, it is considered mild; 16 to 30 times is moderate; and more than 30 times is diagnosed as severe sleep apnea. This disrupts the smooth supply of oxygen in the body and causes various problems. Hypoxia caused by improper breathing during sleep can lead to myocardial infarction, hypertension, stroke, and other conditions.
Snoring and sleep apnea are usually diagnosed through polysomnography and sleep endoscopy. Polysomnography is a comprehensive test of physiological indicators during sleep, assessing the degree of apnea, blood pressure, oxygen saturation in the blood, and more. Sleep endoscopy examines which part inside the nose is narrowed and causing snoring to determine the treatment direction.
Treatment for sleep apnea is divided into non-surgical and surgical methods. The primary non-surgical treatment is PAP therapy, which blows air into the nose and increases air pressure in the airway to prevent airway collapse.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends PAP therapy as the first-line treatment for patients with cardiovascular disorders or those at high risk. Effective long-term use requires training under a physician's guidance at a hospital with PAP specialists. This helps restore the body's oxygen levels, which are reduced due to apnea or sleep apnea, to normal.
Snoring symptoms can also occur if the nose is crooked and air does not flow properly. In such cases, surgery to straighten the nose vertically may be considered.
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