Breathlessness at night mostly refers to suffering from sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome, which includes obstructive, central and mixed types, and is commonly caused by the following reasons:
1. Age and obesity: Obstructive sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome is common in men and women before menopause, and can be highly prevalent at the age of 50 to 60. Obesity can lead to the development of submucosal fat deposition in the oropharynx.
2. Anatomical abnormalities of the upper airway: nasal polyps, turbinate hypertrophy and other nasal obstruction, Ⅱ degree or more tonsillar enlargement, chronic hypertrophic pharyngitis, tongue hypertrophy, tongue root backward fall and other factors to make the pharyngeal cavity narrowing, etc.; neck shortness, mandibular retraction, maxillary deformity, and other congenital factors can cause the upper airway narrowing, and repeated occurrence of apnea.
3. Muscular factors: any factor that causes the upper airway muscle tension to change can lead to upper airway obstruction at night.
4. Neurological, humoral and endocrine factors: Abnormalities in the neuromodulation of the dilator muscles of the upper airway, postmenopausal women, acromegaly and hypothyroid patients are all susceptible to the disease.
5. Racial and genetic factors: In foreign studies, it is found that this disease is related to ethnicity and family genetics.
6. Ethanol and drugs: ethanol and sleeping sedatives can reduce upper airway muscle tone and decrease the body’s response to hypoxia.
7. Neurological damage: central type of disease can be seen in tumors, trauma, vascular embolism and other central nervous system diseases.
8. Hypoxemia and hypercapnia: when patients with COPD have hypoxemia or hypercapnia, the function of the respiratory center can be impaired and cause disease.
Sleeping at night breathlessness, it is recommended to actively seek medical attention to identify the cause of the disease, follow the doctor’s instructions standardized diagnosis and treatment.