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somnio and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

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In this article, you will learn what obstructive sleep apnea is, which symptoms are typical, and how somnio is classified if you have sleep apnea.

What is obstructive sleep apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep-related breathing disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops or is significantly reduced during sleep. These breathing disorders lower the oxygen level in the blood, which triggers stress reactions in the body. The brain reacts by briefly interrupting sleep in order to reactivate breathing. These mostly unconscious waking reactions can repeat many times per night and lead to fragmented, non-restorative sleep as well as a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

What symptoms occur with OSA?
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs especially frequently with increasing age and in people who are overweight and affects men more often than women. Typical nighttime signs are loud, irregular snoring, observed pauses in breathing, or waking abruptly at night with shortness of breath. During the day, pronounced tiredness and exhaustion, problems with concentration and memory, morning headaches, or mood swings are often seen.

Sleep apnea and insomnia – two different sleep disorders
Many people with sleep apnea also report sleep onset insomnia or sleep maintenance insomnia. In these cases, two different sleep disorders may be present at the same time: obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia. While sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder, insomnia is an independent sleep disorder characterized by persistent difficulties falling asleep or sleeping through the night as well as dissatisfaction with one’s own sleep.

Is somnio suitable for me?
In principle, somnio is suitable for adults with insomnia – even if sleep apnea is also present. In this case, somnio is aimed at the treatment of insomnia and complements existing or parallel medical therapy for sleep apnea. If you have symptoms such as loud snoring, observed pauses in breathing, or morning headaches, or if you have been sleeping poorly for several weeks and feel very tired or exhausted during the day, you should have your sleep problems medically evaluated.

Any questions?
If you have questions about the somnio app – both regarding content and technical issues – you can contact our support team at any time. You can reach us by email at support@somn.io or directly via the support feature in the app. We respond within 24 hours, seven days a week. You can reach us by phone Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 14:00 on 0341 978 528 48, excluding public holidays.