According to the American Medical Association, interrupted breathing during sleep impacts an estimated 30 million people in the United States, but as many at 80% of those people are unaware that they have obstructive sleep apnea.
KBIA’s Rebecca Smith recently sat down with Dr. Mohammad Badran at the University of Missouri who studies the condition to learn more about the disorder and how leaving it undiagnosed could be impacting other parts of people’s health.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Rebecca Smith: You know, I guess before we dive into this specific study, I'm just really curious — what is apnea for the layperson? And then what are some of the things that are happening in the body when you have obstructive sleep apnea?
Dr. Mohammad Badran: So, what happens is that when you sleep — the tongue muscle on your airway, it presses down, and basically your airway collapses. So, you stop breathing, and then that would send a signal to your brain, like, “Hey, wake up. I need oxygen.”
So, what happens is that you wake up during your sleep to breathe, and then your oxygen levels will go back up, but at that point you're awake. So, there's some sort of sleep fragmentation that happens.
So, at least those two aspects are responsible for most of the bad effects that happens in these patients.
Rebecca Smith: Yeah. What is the relationship between snoring and apnea? Because I feel like people always talk about those two things together.
Dr. Mohammad Badran: Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea and vice versa. So, if you snore, it could be some craniofacial abnormality. So, it's, like, something wrong in the airway. That could lead to snoring.
But also, in sleep apnea, when your airway is not completely collapsed, you're still prone to snoring.
But in people with severe sleep apnea, they don't even snore. You don't hear them snoring, but the airway collapses right away.
Rebecca Smith: So, with this study in particular, you know, you guys used a long-term mouse model,
Dr. Mohammad Badran: Yeah.
Rebecca Smith: What did you guys find in this study as you were modeling this behavior — untreated sleep apnea — in this mouse model?
Dr. Mohammad Badran: So, what we found is, yes, indeed — these animals die earlier, their heart becomes weaker, the blood vessels become stiffer, you know, all these complications due to the untreated sleep apnea.
Normally, in patients, they have other diseases going on. So, whether it's obesity, whether it's diabetes, whether it's hypertension, but those are all risk factors for sleep apnea.
So, we don't know the exact contribution of sleep apnea in the lifelong untreated case, right? So, we just wanted to isolate this one condition and see its effect with normal aging.
Rebecca Smith: Well, so, for folks who you know are going to hear about this study —
Dr. Mohammad Badran: Yeah.
Rebecca Smith: — who might have this untreated sleep apnea, what should people be watching out for? What are some of those signs and symptoms that maybe they should be looking at that they need to talk to their doctor [about]?
Dr. Mohammad Badran: It's really hard to notice at night if you have sleep apnea, but during the day, you might find yourself sleepier. If you snore, that also might be an indication.
But, you know, a lot of people have wearables right now, right? These ones can tell you, like, “Hey, you might have respiratory distress during your sleep.”
So, check, you know, go on your app and see, you know, if you have any issues. It could provide you with some information.
