Sleep Apnea - Information About What the Three Different Types Are
Sleep ApneaSleep apnea is a fairly common, but serious, medical condition. It is characterized by periods during the sleep cycle when a person's breathing is briefly interrupted. These periods can last anywhere from ten to twenty seconds, or more, and can occur upwards of twenty or thirty times an hour. Sufferers often experience daytime sleepiness and are at risk for other health conditions such as strokes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
There are three types: Obstructive, also known of as OSA, Central or CSA, and Complex or Mixed Sleep Apnea.
OSA is the result of the muscles of the uvula and soft palate relaxing too much and starting to sag. This causes the airway to become blocked and collapse. The body tries to breathe normally, but cannot. Because it cannot, the levels of oxygen carried in the blood begin to drop. When the oxygen levels drop, the brain reacts by sending signal to the body informing it that it has to wake up and breathe.
People suffering from OSA often have an airway that is narrower than normal at the base of the tongue and palate and/or have low muscle tone and soft tissue around the airway. Becoming overweight, drinking alcohol, taking tranquillizers, anti-histamines, or sleeping pills can worsen the condition. OSA is the most common type of apnea. While not all people who snore suffer from OSA, snoring is one of it's symptoms.
The causes of CSA are completely different than those of OSA. Unlike OSA, which is physical in origin, CSA is a type of neurological disorder in which the brain sends the respiratory system delayed or confused signals.
The origins of CSA lie in the way that breathing is monitored by the body. The problem begins when a person's brain starts to ignore blood oxygen levels. Instead, it starts to regulate breathing based on it's measurements of carbon dioxide levels. A person's breathing begins to respond to the levels, increasing when they are too high, and decreasing when they drop.
As carbon dioxide levels increase, the brain sends the message for breathing to pick up speed. This results in the amount of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream decreasing. However the brain reacts too slowly to the drop, and continues to send out the signal for faster breathing. This causes the levels to drop too low. It then has to send another message telling the body to slow its breathing down. Breathing then slows or stops, until the carbon dioxide levels begin to climb again. The resulting pattern of abnormal breathing is called "Cheyne-Stokes" breathing. This form of apnea is most commonly seen in people over sixty years old.
The third apnea type is a combination of the other two types, as its name implies. Mixed, or complex, sleep apnea, is marked by prolonged periods of OSA that are mixed with brief periods of CSA. According to studies, once the OSA has been treated, the CSA will disappear or decrease automatically.
Sleep apnea should not be ignored. It can seriously affect a person's health and their life in general. Treatment options are available. CPAP therapy is quite often effectively used in treating the condition. Oral Appliance Therapy, which uses a dental device to help keep the airway open, and surgery can also help to treat OSA. Anyone who believes that they may be suffering from the condition should speak with their doctor about it.
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