The Three Types of Sleep Apnea

1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when your airway temporarily collapses during sleep. You continue to make efforts to breath but are unable to move air in and out of your lungs because of the obstruction at the back of your throat. During the collapse, which can last from 10 seconds to over a minute, your breathing muscles continue to work with a progressive effort until you awaken and resume normal breathing. After a few breaths, your oxygen levels return to normal. You fall back to sleep and the airway obstruction occurs again. This cycle may continue throughout the night, disrupting your normal sleep pattern. As a result, you may complain of un-refreshing sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness.

2. What Kinds of Sleep Apnea are There? There are three types of sleep apnea,obstructive, central, and complex. If you have obstructive sleep apnea, it is caused by the muscles of the your throat relaxing while sleep. When this occurs, the muscles provide less support to the tonsils, the uvula (the triangular piece of tissue that hangs from your soft palate), and the side walls of the throat. When these areas get less support, it narrows your airway and you can’t get an adequate breath in. If you have central sleep apnea, your brain is not sending the correct signals to the muscles that control your breathing. This causes you to have shallow breathing or to stop breathing for intervals of time. This type of apnea is more common after a stroke, with heart disease, or with narcotic or sedative use. Complex sleep apnea is a combination of the obstructive and central forms.

3. Risk Factors for Sleep Apnea Anyone can get sleep apnea including women, men, and children. There are a number of things that do increase your risk of sleep apnea such as:

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