Why OSA is a Life-Threatening Sleep Disorder That Stops Your Breathing – Doctor Speaks| Exclusive

Sleep apnea is a life-threatening sleep disorder wherein one’s breathing repeatedly stops and begins.

The world woke up to the unfortunate news of Veteran singer Bappi Lahiri’s death, he was 69. The singer-composer popularised disco music in the 80s and 90s. His sudden death sent shockwaves through the music industry. The singer breathed his last at Mumbai’s CritiCare Hospital at around 11.40-11.45 pm on Tuesday night. Dr Deepak Namjoshi told news agency PTI that the cause of his death is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OAS).

“Lahiri had been admitted to the hospital for a month and was discharged on Monday. But his health deteriorated on Tuesday and his family called for a doctor to visit their home. He was brought to the hospital. He had multiple health issues. He died due to OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) shortly before midnight,” Dr Deepak Namjoshi, director of the hospital, told PTI.

Soon after the singer’s sudden demise, Indians googled Obstructive Sleep Apnea. According to a report in News18, as per google trends, Indians in the last four hours looked up the singer’s age, sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, and osa.

We asked Dr Sheetal Radia, Consultant Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Oncosurgery, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road about this health condition. She said, “Sleep apnea is a life-threatening sleep disorder wherein one’s breathing repeatedly stops and begins. If you tend to snore loudly and are fatigued all the time even after sleeping properly at night then you may be having sleep apnea.”

Dr Sheetal further talked about types of sleep apnea, “There are three main types of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is commonly seen in the majority of overweight or obese people when the throat muscles relax during sleep. Central sleep apnea strikes in when the brain fails to send proper signals to the muscles that are responsible to control breathing. Complex sleep apnea syndrome (treatment-emergent central sleep apnea) is when one has obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. The red flags of it are continuous and loud snoring, one’s breathing is stopped for seconds while sleeping, gasping for air while asleep, morning headache, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and irritability.”

“If you have OSA, you will be advised of positive airway pressure. Here, the machine delivers air pressure via a piece that fits into your nose or is placed over your nose and mouth while you sleep. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines help one to deal with sleep apnea by delivering a stream of oxygenated air into the airways with the help of a mask and a tube,” Dr Sheetal concludes.