Mr. Chen, who is in his fifties and has a "fat" physique, has not slept well for many years, but he has been ignoring it. Later, his vision was narrowed, and the ophthalmologist confirmed that he was suffering from glaucoma. Fortunately, it was detected early and his vision was not seriously damaged. After the doctor asked about other conditions in detail, he suspected that the eye disease might be related to sleep apnea, so he was referred to ENT. Doctor to follow up.

Overweight family at high risk of sleep apnea

In fact, Mr. Chen is obviously overweight and belongs to a high-risk group of sleep apnea. His snoring noise is a frequent complaint of his wife, and he is often tired during the day. He later underwent a sleep test and was confirmed to suffer from moderate sleep apnea. His nasal passages were also blocked due to chronic rhinitis, which made the suffocation worse.

Otolaryngologist Huang Hanwei pointed out that past research has found that sleep apnea is related to eye diseases such as glaucoma, so there are also referral cases from ophthalmology from time to time, because the treatment of such cases can not only treat glaucoma, but also need to deal with sleep apnea. He said that some patients will suffer from sleep apnea due to long-term nasal sensitivity, but usually the suffocation will be mild. For example, in Mr. Chen's case, in addition to nasal sensitivity, there are also factors such as body shape and age, so the condition will be more serious.

Huang Hanwei pointed out that losing weight can help improve sleep apnea, but losing weight is not easy, and it takes a long time to reach the target; as for surgery, it is only suitable for a small number of patients, so using a ventilator is the best treatment option, which can immediately improve the problem. "There is no need for surgery or medication, and patients don't need to lose weight, but they need to use it every night, otherwise the problem will return to its original state once you stop using it."