Hypopnea syndrome, or just hypopnea, is a disorder when a person experiences severe shallow respiration or a low pace of air flow in course of sleep. It commonly happens when the upper airway gets narrow because the muscles relax naturally at night. In reality many patients don't notice any inconvenience while sleeping. However it's very important to diagnose this disorder and start hypopnea treatment as soon as possible.

The most usual hypopnea symptom is excessive drowsiness that occurs because of regular sleep breaks. Patients with the hypopnea syndrome usually have loud and deep snoring that is disturbed with suffocating sounds or snorts succeeded by quiet periods, since insufficient amount of air flows into the lungs through the mouth and nose. Other symptoms of hypopnea include: Loss of energy, morning headaches, depression, forgetfulness, mood swings, trouble concentrating, etc.

Hypopnea treatment include the following: CPAP, Polysomnogram, medications that stimulate breathing, Echocardiogram, BiPAP, electrocardiogram and thyroid function studies. However, mild hypopnea can sometimes be handled by losing weight or by avoiding sleeping on the back. Besides, stopping smoking, and keeping away from alcohol, depressants and soporifics before sleep can be rather efficient.

The major hypopnea treatment is CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure. It is a device used to treat moderate to severe hypopnea. The machine blows air at a steady, uninterrupted pressure to keep a patient's airway open, allowing him to respire normally. The air pressure is corrected so that it is exactly sufficient to keep the upper airway tissues from narrowing in course of sleep but hypopnea symptoms come back once CPAP is stopped or it is applied improperly. Also the so called BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) can be used to tread the syndrome. It is a movable ventilatory device that delivers an adjusted quantity of pressurized air.

Surgery is basically the last alternative in hypopnea treatment. According to the way the airwai is narrowed, surgery may be applied to the soft roof of the mouth, the uvula, tonsils, adenoids or the tongue.