Sleep Apnea Testing and Monitoring

•  Nocturnal polysomnography - This is a test where the patient is plugged to a device that monitors the brain activity, heart, lung activity, motor movements, blood oxygen levels, and breathing pattern while the patient sleeps.

Treatment

• If the patient is experiencing mild cases of sleep apnea, the doctor might recommend lifestyle changes like losing weight, exercising, allergy medications or nasal decongestant, and avoiding anti-anxiety drugs.
•  Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. Patients with severe to moderate sleep apnea use CPAP machine which delivers air pressure through a wearable mask while the patient sleeps. The air pressure from the CPAP is higher than the normal atmospheric pressure, to keep the air passages open, which helps prevent snoring and apnea.
• Patients suffering from sleep apnea may be required to undergo surgery, whereby the doctor removes tissues from the back of the mouth (top of the patient's throat), tonsils, and adenoids, to create room for airways passage.
• Patients with sleep apnea may be required to undergo positional therapy.

Insights

• In 2019, the global market size for sleep apnea devices was $5.9 billion, and it is expected to reach $10.3 billion by the year 2027, growing at a CAGR of 7.4%.
• Sleep apnea is prevalent amongst the elderly population, affecting about 13% to 32% of people over 65 years old. 

Patient's Concerns

•  Sleep apnea patients are concerned over transmitting the coronavirus. The MD of the Center for Sleep, Seema Khosla, in an interview stated that a CPAP machine is capable of spreading air droplets further than the normal human breathing, which consequentially puts the patients and caregivers at risk of contracting COVID-19.