What are the causes?
Sleep Apnea can be caused by either a complete blockage of the airway (called Obstructive Apnea) or by a partial blockage (called Obstructive hypopnea, where hypopnea is a shallow breathing).

What are the types of Sleep Apnea ?
There are 3 types of Sleep Apnea:
a†' Obstructive Sleep Apnea ( OSA ) – Most common type
a†' Central Sleep Apnea
a†' Mixed Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea ( OSA ) is caused by a blockage of the airway, which stops the airflow into the nose and mouth and preventing air from getting to the lungs. It happen usually when the soft tissues of the larynx relax too much, loses throat muscle and closes the airway during the sleep. Around this area, there are no firm structures (such as cartilage or bone) to hold the airway open and as result, the airway collapses and obstructed when the throat muscles relax during sleep time. By this time, when there is a stop of in taking oxygen ("without breathing"), the brain will awake the sleeper in order to resume breathing again. This arousal from sleep usually last for a few seconds, however the distribution generate by frequent arousal from sleep will affect the quality of sleep throughout the night. Thus it is very common finding OSA people with very fragmented and poor quality sleep.
i.e.
1st Sleep Apnea begins
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
blockage of the airway
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
"without breathing", stop of in taking oxygen
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
brain awake the sleeper for oxygen
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
airway open again and resume breathing again
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
2nd Sleep Apnea begins
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
again blockage of the airway happen
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
"without breathing", stop of in taking oxygen
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
brain awake the sleeper for oxygen again
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
airway re-open again and resume breathing again
a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"a†"
OSA people will have the above Apnea cycle repeated throughout the night.
Accordingly to a survey, the frequency of waking up is about 10 to 60 times. However people with OSA can wake up more than 100 times thought the sleep.

OSA is the most common Sleep Apnea with about 2% of women and 4% of men over the age of 35 have OSA .
OSA aggravates congestive heart failure by placing stress on the heart during sleep or result from a lack of oxygen supply to the lung and may precipitate a heart attack or stroke.

Central Sleep Apnea is caused by the failure of brain signaling the muscle to breath. It is usually accompanied by a decrease in blood oxygen saturation as there is a stop of in taking oxygen. There is no blockage of the airway as in OSA, the airway remains open. However the diaphragm and chest muscles will stop working and "ask for" breathing. When there is a fall in oxygen level, the brain will awake the sleeper and thus able to resume breathing again. People with Central Sleep Apnea usually aware of their nightly awakening.

Central Sleep Apnea usually happens when people grow older. About 25% of people with age 60 or above experience the distribution of breathing during sleep time. In elderly, the loss of muscle mass are replaced by fat. It will then result in a narrower airway and easily to close when the muscles relax. It may not be a severe problem, however it will become severe if people having Central Sleep Apnea have congestive heart failure or neurological disorders. When people with Sleep Apnea stop breathing, there is a lack of oxygen supply to the lung and may precipitate a heart attack or stroke.

Mixed Sleep Apnea is caused by is a combination of Obstructive Sleep Apnea ( OSA ) and Central Sleep Apnea. It usually begins with a Central Sleep Apnea and then later becomes ( OSA ).


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Autor: Aloha

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