Apnea-hypopnea index

Imagine you're playing a game where you have to count how many times your friend stops breathing or breathes too shallow while they sleep. That's what the apnea-hypopnea index (or AHI) is - a score that tells us how many times someone stops breathing (apnea) or breathes too shallow (hypopnea) during their sleep.

People with sleep apnea may have a higher AHI score because their breathing gets interrupted often while they sleep. This can cause them to wake up feeling tired or even cause health problems like high blood pressure.

So it's important for doctors to measure someone's AHI to understand their sleep condition and to know the best type of treatment for them. But for us with friends who don't have sleep apnea, we can just count on not needing to play that game!