| Help
for headaches
Are you plagued by chronic headaches?
The reason could be
that you stop breathing in your sleep. If that is your problem, help
is available.
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HEADACHE AGAIN?:
You might be suffering from sleep apnoea.
Contact: Knut Hagen,
Dep. of
Neuroscience, NTNU
Tel: +47 73 86 84 15
email:
knut.hagen@medisin.ntnu.no
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| Photo: Rune Petter Ness |
One in four Norwegians snore. However, the
problem is more serious for some than for others. A minority of
snorers, between two and three per cent of the population, suffer
from sleep apnoea.
Sleep apnoea is a condition in which you stop breathing several
times during the night. Every pause lasts for more than ten seconds,
and some people may have as many as 50 such pauses per hour.
HEADACHE SUFFERERS
These breathing problems disrupt the normal sleep pattern and cause
problems and pain during the day. A survey recently conducted at
St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim shows that chronic headaches,
or headaches that occurred more than 14 days a month, are 7 times
more common among people examined for sleep apnoea than among the
rest of the population. This is a significant difference, says Knut
Hagen, lecturer at NTNU and chief surgeon in neurology.
“The group with sleep apnoea is over-represented
among people suffering from headaches,” Dr.Hagen says.However,
researchers did not find any connection between the headaches and
the degree of sleep apnoea. Patients with few pauses during any
one night could have headaches that were just as chronic as patients
with many pauses.
“This indicates that headaches are
more strongly connected to the effort of breathing in itself. If
the passage in your throat is narrow, you have to use more muscle
power to breathe,” Dr.Hagen explains.
BREATHING ASSISTANCE DEVICES OR OPERATION
It is not easy to determine if you have long pauses in your breathing
unless you have somebody lying awake next to you counting seconds.
Dr. Hagen stresses the importance of being observant if you have
symptoms such as chronic headaches or excessive daytime sleepiness.
Severe sleep apnoea is associated with excess mortality, possibly
because a majority of those affected also suffer from high blood
pressure.
The good news is that help is available.
Patients with serious problems can try a breathing assistance device
that improves the airflow to their lungs. Patients with a lesser
degree of sleep apnoea have several alternatives similar to those
offered to snorers: One method is to surgically remove tissue from
your throat to improve the airflow. A second is to insert implants
to tighten the soft palate.A third is to use a dental splint at
night.
“Several of those diagnosed with sleep
apnoea have been on painkillers for a long time without having any
relief from their suffering.When they are correctly diagnosed, they
can finally get the appropriate help,” says Mr.Hagen.
NOCTURNAL EXAMINATION
The 324 patients who participated in the study had been in contact
with their doctors because of symptoms associated with sleep apnoea.
The patients were referred for what is known as a polysomnography
examination. While sleeping, the patients were connected to a device
that recorded several body functions such as brain activity, breathing
efforts, airflow and oxygen level in the blood. They also filled
out a questionnaire about headaches and skeletal or muscular problems.
The results have been compared with a control
group from the Health Examination in Nord- Trøndelag,Norway
(HUNT). Several researchers have discovered connections between
snoring and headaches. However, Knut Hagen is not familiar with
any previous research on chronic headaches and sleep apnoea. He
says that the polysomnography ensures the correct diagnosis. Several
other studies have been based on the participants themselves stating
how often they snore.
Elin Fugelsnes
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