According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep apnea is a condition in which you stop breathing, sometimes, up to hundreds of times during the night. You may stop breathing for up to a minute or more. Each event causes your brain to wake you up to start breathing again but this results in a very fragmented and subsequently poor period of sleep. Sleep apnea affects the same amount of people as does adult diabetes, more than 12 million Americans. There are three main kinds of sleep apnea: Central, Obstructive and Complex. Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs when the airway becomes blocked during sleep causing a cessation in breathing. This usually results in loud snoring. Central Sleep Apnea occurs when the signals from the brain telling the lungs to continue breathing malfunction. In this situation there is no obstruction. Complex Sleep Apnea is a combination of the previous two forms of the disorder.
Causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
The most common obstruction is the soft tissue in the back of the throat. If the muscles of the throat relax too much during sleep they can cause the airways to narrow and impede the flow of oxygen into the lungs. This impairment keeps you from reaching the deepest levels of sleep. These levels are necessary for your body to heal and rejuvenate itself.
Causes of Central Sleep Apnea
Central Sleep Apnea does not occur as often as Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This form of the disease occurs when the brain fails to transmit signals to the muscles responsible for breathing. Two of the main causes of this type of sleep apnea are heart disease and stroke. Symptoms are similar to those of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, however, and include snoring and daytime sleepiness. If you suffer from Central Sleep Apnea, the chances are better that you may remember awakening in the night and feeling short of breath.
Causes of Complex Sleep Apnea
If you suffer from Complex Sleep Apnea then you experience both types of the disorder. You have an obstruction in your upper airway and also a breathing rhythm abnormality due to brain function.
Lifestyle Treatment
In all types of sleep apnea, lifestyle changes can improve milder cases. Quitting smoking and losing weight are the first steps in reducing the effects of sleep apnea on your body. When these alone don't improve the condition enough, there are other treatment options available.
Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure devices, called CPAPs, are the most common form of treatment. They involve a mask hooked to a machine that delivers pressurized air into the upper airway passages, keeping them open. If this is too uncomfortable for you, a different device, such as an oral appliance may be helpful. These devices are worn in the mouth and change the placement of your jaw to keep the airway passages open during sleep. If all the above treatments fail, surgery is available to alter the offending obstruction. The surgeries involve removing either or a combination of tissue from the back and top of the throat, the tonsils and adenoids. Another surgery enlarges the space behind your tongue and soft palate by moving the jaw bones forward. Finally, and least common of all, is the tracheostomy. In severe, life-threatening cases, when all else fails, a tube may be inserted into your throat to allow air to flow past the obstruction during your sleep. Sometimes laser or radiofrequency surgeries are performed to remove obstructive material. Nasal surgery to remove polyps or straighten the septum may also be used in conjunction with other treatments to help treat the apnea.
Treatment of Central and Complex Sleep Apnea
Since Central Sleep Apnea may be caused by another medical condition such as cardiovascular disease, treating the underlying condition is the first method of treatment. Successfully treating the originating condition may completely alleviate all symptoms of Central Sleep Apnea. Positive Airway Pressure machines are also approved for the treatment of Central and Complex Sleep Apnea. Supplemental oxygen may be helpful in maintaining sufficient levels of oxygen in the blood stream allowing the body to function normally. Adaptive Servo-Ventilation is the newest method of treatment available for those suffering from Central Sleep Apnea. This technique measures your normal breathing rhythm during the day and then through Positive Airway Pressure attempts to recreate your personalized breathing pattern. This treatment may be more successful than the more common CPAP but more research is needed. Along with the rarer devices, implants have been developed for the treatment of Sleep Apnea but again more research is needed.
Tags: Central Sleep, Central Sleep Apnea, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Apnea, Complex Sleep