Sleep and COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the most common disease affecting millions of people worldwide. It is a multicomponent disease which beside airflow obstruction causes airway inflammation, structural changes, mucociliary dysfunction and systemic dysfunction. Airway responsiveness is altered during sleep along with decrease in ventilation due to reduction in tidal volume. Patients with COPD also develop significant nocturnal desaturation despite adequate oxygenation during the wake state. Almost 14% of patients with COPD also have concurrent obstructive sleep apnea, which in turn can lead to more desaturation, hypoxia and hypercarbia. The COPD can affect the quality of life by causing insomnia, excessive day time sleepiness, fatigue, morning awakening, and poor sleep quality. In the current article we will address the issues of oxygenation during sleep, effects of combination of COPD and OSA, quality of sleep in COPD patients and different therapeutic options to counter the effects of COPD on sleep.