Abstract
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is one of the most common conditions that occur during sleep. OSAS involves the existence of at least 5 breathing breaks of at least 10 seconds in a sleeping hour.
OSAS etiologic factors are numerous, the most important being the increased body weight of patients (a high percentage of 50% of patients with OSAS with different degrees of obesity), age (OSAS is diagnosed in middle-aged people), craniofacial deformities, multiple pathologies leading to narrowing of the upper airways, gender (is more common in men), genetic causes (more common in black and Hispanic people), alcohol, tobacco, hypnotic and sedative medications.
Symptoms of OSAS are characterized by daytime and night-time symptoms. Of the daytime symptoms, patients frequently report headache and morning fatigue, daytime somnolence, memory impairment and concentration. Of the nocturnal symptoms, the most common symptoms experienced by patients are snoring and repeated episodes of apnea. Patients also report nocturia, polakiuria, decreased libido, symptoms that are often attributed to other pathologies. Due to concentration disturbances and low cognitive performance among patients with OSAS, they will experience a decrease in work capacity, which is reflected by the loss of work, reflected by the decrease in the number of working days.
OSAS treatment is complex, different depending on the severity of the disease and the existing comorbidities of the patient.