Don’t ignore signs of OSA: Experts

With legendary singer, Bappi Lahiri breathing his last due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), experts appealed to the public not to ignore the symptoms of OSA, the most common sleep-related breathing disorder.

"People with sleep apnea will have noticeable symptoms including snoring, headache, overweight, being restless, difficulty in breathing, among others. These are often ignored by many people," informs Dr Vishak Acharya, who is serving as consultant pulmonologist at KMC Hospital.

Normally, while breathing, the upper airway collapses. But, in people with sleep apnea, the upper airway will collapse excessively due to accumulated excessive fat near it. Sleep apnea can lead to a significant decrease in blood oxygen levels. They also experience short sleep interruptions during the night which leads to excessive tiredness during the day, Dr Acharya said and urged people to consult their doctors on the right kind of treatment.