What is Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) ?
Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) is a sleep disorder characterized by obstruction or narrowing of the upper airway, the passage from the nose to the esophagus, during sleep. This resistance requires the diaphragm and chest muscles to work harder to breathe. This laborious breathing can lead to frequent awakenings during the night and difficulty entering deep sleep stages such as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
Snoring is a common symptom of upper airway resistance syndrome. UARS is generally considered a disorder of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), and the most common disorder in this spectrum is obstructive sleep apnea. Although upper airway resistance syndrome is sometimes confused with sleep apnea, it is a very different disorder. In sleep apnea, an individual may stop breathing completely multiple times throughout the night, and as a result show a drop in oxygen levels. On the other hand, upper airway resistance syndrome does not result in complete cessation of breathing, nor does it necessarily result in a drop in oxygen levels, however, upper airway resistance syndrome is characterized by increased dyspnea due to airway obstruction.
Airway resistance syndrome forces the diaphragm and pectoral muscles to work harder. Common symptoms of upper airway resistance syndrome include chronic fatigue, chronic nighttime awakenings with difficulty returning to sleep, heavy snoring, cold hands and feet, hypotension and hypertension, and in some cases, frequent nighttime awakenings in UARS patients. The resulting fatigue is severe enough to interfere with daily functioning, resulting in reduced productivity at work and in everyday life.
Upper airway resistance syndrome is characterized by increased dyspnea due to airway restriction. People with upper airway resistance syndrome are usually of average stature, and obesity is not as prominent as people with other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, and more than half of those with the condition are women, many of whom are between the ages of 30 and 60 between the ages.
People with upper airway resistance syndrome may develop high blood pressure. UARS can be treated with a variety of techniques, including over-the-counter medications such as breathing tapes, nasal dilators, nasal dilators, etc., or nasal sprays. The use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices or oral appliances may also help.
Why Use CPAP Machines?
CPAP machine can treat sleep apnea, and it is often used for some moderate to severe sleep apnea syndrome. And the CPAP that has poor treatment effect by surgery or weight loss is used to treat sleep apnea syndrome. After a certain positive pressure of air enters the respiratory tract, it can increase the functional residual capacity of the patient, thereby reducing the resistance of the upper airway, increasing the tension of the upper sign, and using it as an air support to prevent the upper airway from collapsing during sleep. Keep the patient in the open state of single-cropping rice, which is the same as the state of awakening, which can reduce the decrease in oxygenation and hypoxia caused by sleep apnea during sleep.
In general, in addition to basic health care treatments such as weight loss, diet control, smoking cessation, and moderate exercise, it also includes surgical treatment, oral orthodontic devices (snoring devices) and CPAP treatment. The latter is currently the more respected treatment. The key to the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is the narrowing or obstruction of the upper airway.
The CPAP treatment is based on such a basic principle: to provide appropriate positive airway pressure when the patient is sleeping, to open the airway, to ensure smooth breathing and to eliminate the symptoms of apnea. This is like a blower or pump that presses air through the mask into the patient's airway, thereby opening the collapsed airway. Breathing smoothly, snoring and hypoxia problems will be solved. The biggest obstacle to CPAP treatment of sleep apnea syndrome is not the poor efficacy, but the psychological unacceptability of the patient.
Although CPAP therapy is the preferred method, it does not fundamentally correct a patient's airway stenosis. Therefore, the patient's lifelong sleep may be inseparable from this auxiliary "gas pump". In addition, uncomfortable wearing, troublesome, and high cost are also "words of resentment" for CPAP treatment.
In fact, if the CPAP is properly selected, a lot of discomfort when wearing it can be avoided. With the improvement of technology, the design of the model is becoming more and more user-friendly, and most of the discomfort symptoms are almost caused by the parameters of the CPAP not being set properly.
According to research, many patients with upper airway resistance syndrome have improved well with CPAP , but patients should consult a sleep specialist or doctor to make an accurate diagnosis and develop an appropriate treatment plan.