Sleep Apnea and RA Common Conditions
                     Sleep Apnea and RA: 
Common Conditions
People with rheumatoid arthritis are at risk of 
sleep apnea, a sleep disorder where breathing 
is interrupted during sleep. Sleep apnea is 
also common in people who are overweight or 
obese, and the majority of patients diagnosed 
with sleep apnea do not realize that their 
sleep problems might be related to their RA.
People with sleep apnea stop breathing for 10 
seconds or more several times per night. This 
often prevents them from getting deep, 
restorative sleep. They may experience loud 
snoring, observed pauses in breathing, restless 
sleep, fatigue throughout the day, headaches 
upon waking up in the morning, depression and 
cardiovascular disease .
Snoring happens when your soft tissues 
collapse into your airway while you sleep. When 
these tissues vibrate against one another, they 
can cause snoring. You may stop breathing for 
short periods of time when the airway becomes 
blocked or due to other sleep disruptions.
Treatment may include weight loss, nasal spray 
decongestants, a change in position during 
sleep, treatment of allergies and/or using CPAP 
(continuous positive airway pressure) machine . 
Patients with Sleep apnea and RA who 
experience chronic pain or discomfort from 
these treatments should consult their 
rheumatologist about alternative treatments.
In addition, sleep apnea is more common in 
patients with autoimmune diseases, such as 
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Sjogren's 
syndrome . This may be due to the presence 
of elevated inflammatory cytokines which 
are found in sleep apnea patients.
Prevention measures include weight loss for 
obese individuals, sleep position changes to 
improve sleep quality, sleep at a moderate 
temperature (warm room, cool bedding) , nasal 
spray decongestants for allergies or breathing 
problems during sleep , treatment of any sleep 
disturbances with medications only when 
necessary.
At this time there are no proven screening 
methods used on all RA patients that are 
recommended by professionals. However 
some healthcare organizations recommend 
asking about snoring and daytime sleepiness 
or fatigue during routine medical visits .
In the future sleep apnea screening may be a mandatory 
part of patient care, or sleep apnea may be diagnosed 
through a simple blood test. Treatment for sleep apnea 
consists of lifestyle changes and/or sleep-disrupting 
devices such as CPAP machines. If sleep apnea goes 
undiagnosed or untreated, patients are more likely to 
experience cardiovascular disease, depression and 
Sjogren's syndrome .
Sleep disturbances can have many 
different causes. Patients should ask 
their doctors about what type of sleep 
problems they might be experiencing 
and how it could affect RA treatment in 
order to get the best sleep possible!