Dr. Josefino Hernandez, head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, explains the causes of sleep apnea, a sleep-related breathing disorder where breathing repeatedly stops during sleep. Asian Hospital and Medical Center offers comprehensive analysis and treatment procedures to help sleep apnea sufferers especially with its highly qualified otorhinolaryngologists.

The most frequent complaint is snoring. This may be merely a social nuisance or a symptom of a greater problem. According to Dr. Hernandez, the more common form of this condition is obstructive sleep apnea, where the throat muscles relax and collapse during sleep causing blockage in the airways. This may occur in both adults and children. People who experience this are roused from sleep to reopen their airway, often making a snorting, choking or gasping sound. Because this pattern occurs repeatedly, up to hundreds of times each hour all night long, it causes disruptions that impair a person’s ability to reach deep, restful phases of sleep, thus making him sleepy and tired during waking hours. For children, sleep apnea may impair learning, concentration and memory, not to mention physical growth.