What is Apnea and Sleep Apnea Disorder.
Apnea is suspension or cessation or a pause in breathing. It usually occurs during sleep and is therefore called sleep apnea. It is a common sleep disorder which can have serious consequences. Apnea is a Greek word which literally means “without wind” or “without breadth”.
Apnea need not be just pause of breathing. Even abnormally low and shallow breathing can be classified as sleep apnea. Usually brief pauses in breathing are normal but when these pauses extend beyond 10 seconds during sleep, it is classified as sleep apnea. In untreated chronic sleep apnea, these pauses in breathing can last for 20 seconds or more and can occur several times an hour, sometimes as many as 30 times an hour and hundreds of times during the night.
These pauses in breathing deprive the body of oxygen causing disruption of sleep and which can lead to complications of insomnia. Sleep apnea often completely awakens the person or may just bring the person out of his deep sleep into a more light sleep level depriving him of sleep hours and consequent drowsiness during the day.
Sleep apnea is identified by its symptoms of which loud and chronic snoring (which is different from normal snoring) is the most common. Sleep apnea should not be ignored because of its serious complications and treatment should be sought if diagnosed. As it occurs in sleep, a person having sleep apnea rarely knows it and it is often noticed by others around him.
Types of Sleep Apnea.
There are three types of sleep apnea.
1) Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
This is the most common type of sleep apnea constituting about 84% of the sleep apnea cases. This occurs due to relaxation of the soft tissue at the back of the throat causing repetitive blockage of the upper airway resulting in breathing pauses during sleep. This obstruction can be due to large tonsils or a large tongue, excess tissue in the airways and also due to relaxation and contraction of the airway muscles. At times a particular shaped jaw structure can also cause this type of obstruction of the airway. Loud snoring is typical of this type of sleep apnea because when you try to breathe, the air forcing its way through the blockage causes the snoring sound.
Image showing Sleep apnea.
2) Central Sleep Apnea (CSA).
This much less common (seen only in 0.4% of sleep apnea cases) and is due to central causes than any local obstruction. In this type of sleep apnea, the central nervous system fails to send signals to the respiratory muscles which control breathing which results in no muscular effort to breathe. Snoring is rarely seen in this type of breathing. Cheyne Stokes breathing can often mimic CSA.
3) Complex Sleep Apnea.
This type of sleep apnea is a mixed type of apnea where both the obstructive and central sleep apnea are present. This is particularly seen in infants and young children who have breathing problems.
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