Those suffering from obstructive sleep apnea or sleep apnea experience short apnea or hypopnea episodes during their sleep.
An apnea episode is a total breathing stoppage that lasts more than 10 seconds, despite persistent respiratory effort.
A hypopnea episode is when you are still breathing, but your airflow becomes constricted enough to cause a decrease in your blood oxygen level.
A doctor can calculate your apnea-hypopnea index score by dividing the total number of apnea and hypopnea episodes by your total sleep time. This score is a crucial number to remember, as it is a primary measure for detecting sleep apnea’s presence and severity.