• Home

Home > Medical Reference > Patient Education

• Highlights
• Introduction
• Symptoms
• Causes
• Risk Factors
• Prognosis
• Diagnosis
• Lifestyle Changes
• Treatment
• Other Treatments
• Surgery
• Resources
• References

Sleep apnea

Description

An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of sleep apnea.

Symptoms

People with sleep apnea usually do not remember waking up during the night.

Symptoms in Adults

Symptoms may include:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Morning headaches
• Irritability and impaired mental or emotional functioning
• Snoring (bed partners may report very loud and interrupted snoring)
• Heartburn (acid back-up that causes heartburn may be responsible for some cases of sleep apnea)

Symptoms in Children

Sleep apnea occurs in about 2% of children. They may have symptoms that differ from adults, including:

• Longer total sleep time than normal in some children, especially obese children or those with severe apnea.
• Snoring. (An estimated 3 - 12% of all children snore. However, not all of them have sleep apnea.)
• More effort in breathing (flaring nostrils, heaving chests, sweating). The chest may have an inward motion during sleep.
• Behavioral difficulties without any obvious cause, such as hyperactivity and inattention. (Some patients may even be misdiagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.)
• Irritability
• Bed-wetting
• Morning headaches
• Failure to grow and gain weight

• Review Date: 7/19/2006
• Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch).

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-2007 A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.