Three Types of Sleep Apnea Part 1
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | No Comments
Sleep apnea is a chronic sleep disorder, characterised by pauses, or apneas, in a sleeper’s breathing. These pauses occur at least 15 times an hour, and can occur more than 30 times an hour. Often a person may be unaware that they suffer from the condition; symptoms are much more likely to reported by family members or bed partners than the individual themselves. There are three types of Sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and mixed sleep apnea.
Obstructive Sleep apnea: For those with Obstructive Sleep apnea pauses in breathing are caused by their airway collapsing. This could be caused by a number of factors, such as a long palate or uvula falling backwards and blocking the airway, swollen turbinate filters in the nose, a deviated septum narrowing the air passages, or the throat’s side walls closing in. Attempts to breathe are then unsuccessful, and will cause the airway to pull together more tightly and negative pressure to build up. This breathing through the now tight airway can cause loud snoring. These attempts continue until the blood’s oxygen level decreases to a point that the person wakes up, or comes from deep sleep to a more shallow level. Although waking up like this may be forgotten by morning, the process is disturbing and may cause daytime tiredness. Obstructive Sleep apnea is related to weight, age and smoking.
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