@article{JTD4954,
author = {Walter T. McNicholas and Yuanming Luo and Nanshan Zhong},
title = {Sleep apnoea: a major and under-recognised public health concern},
journal = {Journal of Thoracic Disease},
volume = {7},
number = {8},
year = {2015},
keywords = {},
abstract = {Sleep-related breathing disorders, particularly obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), are highly prevalent and represent an increasing part of clinical respiratory practice. OSAS represents something of a paradox in clinical medicine. On the one hand, the clinical disorder has been widely recognised only in recent decades, although the sleeping characteristics of OSAS have been recognised in the medical and classical literature for centuries. On the other hand, OSAS is now recognised to be highly prevalent with recent prevalence figures approaching those of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1,2), and there is increasing evidence that OSAS is associated with many adverse sequelae, both behavioural and physical. Behavioural features include daytime sleepiness, impaired memory and concentration, whereas physical consequences include cardiovascular and metabolic disorders (3). Although sleep apnoea was first described as a specific clinical entity in the late 1950s, there are several descriptions in earlier clinical journals that clearly refer to the disorder. The sleeping characteristics of obstructive apnoea were clearly described by Broadbent (4) in the late nineteenth century: “there will be perfect silence through two, three, or four respiratory periods, in which there are ineffectual chest movements; finally air enters with a loud snort, after which there are several compensatory deep inspirations”.},
issn = {2077-6624}, url = {https://jtd.amegroups.org/article/view/4954}
}