Sleep Apnea in Atlanta

Stop suffering from Sleep Apnea!

Sleep apnea is a common condition in Atlanta, and is estimated to affect one out of five individuals in the U.S. and 60% of the population over 60. Take our sleep quiz to see if you may have sleep apnea. Already suffering? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Dillard to get the relief you deserve.

Find Out for Sure

Both central and obstructive sleep apnea are associated with cardiovascular diseases, lung problems, chronic nasal conditions, diabetes, erectile dysfunction, low testosterone, and obesity.

The only way to definitively diagnose you is with a sleep study at our qualified sleep center. We have locations across the Atlanta area, in Braselton, Lawrenceville and Athens.

Sleep Apnea Explained

Apnea is a latin phrase meaning breathless. The condition itself is best understood as a when a person stops breathing continuously, for a specified period of time. As everyone’s breathing rate is a little different, the question becomes what is continuous to you? Well, knowing that most people take 12-20 breaths a minute, we can start to understand what apnea is.

One sign of apnea is when a person stops breathing for a ten second period of time or more. Doctors can measure your breathes with some tools that measure the effects of breathing are simple in concept.

• flow meters to measure pressure underneath the nose (the force of the air coming from you lungs).
• thermometers to measure the heat of your breaths (the change in temperature from an inhaling to exhaling).

If, during this study, a person either stops breathing completely or takes 25% less breaths than normal; they have an apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is the apnea that most people in Atlanta are familiar with. The obstructive term means that a person’s upper airway has something soft or moveable closing off or obstructing it (usually the tongue but sometimes the tonsils or adnoids).

To prove that there is an obstruction, we have to prove that you are attempting to breathe. In order to that, we usually measure respiratory effort. Effort is typically measured by series of elastic belts around the chest and stomach (although there are other tools available).

Central Sleep Apnea

If you are not making a concerted effort and are not breathing, you are considered to have central sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea is caused by something in the central nervous system (nerves inside the brain) not actively creating the impulses needed to for you to breathe.

Written by Dr. Dillard