subject: What Is Sleep Apnea? [print this page] Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous sleep disorder since it restricts the normal breathing pattern during sleep. People suffering from sleep apnea usually do not experience any difficulty in breathing when awake and are mostly not aware of the problem they suffer from. Apnea is specifically defined as a 10 second interval between subsequent breaths that might result in a neurological arousal or basically the brain being aware of the shortcoming. Sleep apnea can be of essentially two forms, and the third type of sleep apnea is a combination of the two.
In these ten seconds the brain may or may not become aware of oxygen deficiency, but usually lasts long enough to awaken the person in normal circumstances. There are three types of apnea and they are discussed below. This way you can easily determine which type is causing you trouble.
Obstrucitve Sleep Apnea occurs when there is an obstruction in the breathing canal that causes difficulty in breathing. It is usually due to the collapsible tissues around the passage, and obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of apnea, prevalent. This apnea can also have different ranges of severity, and the consequences can thus range in complexity as well. However, breathing difficulty caused by illnesses like respiratory infections do not fall under apnea. Chronic sleep apnea is constant disturbance in normal breathing patterns that can cumulate to become disabling problems.
Central Sleep Apnea, occurs when the brain does not send neurological signals to the organs concerned, to initiate the breathing process. It?s almost as if the brain has ?forgotten? to breathe. The body though deprived of oxygen, fails to realize and hence no counter action is taken to rectify the situation. It is in this case, death is highly possible.
Complex Sleep Apnea is a combination of the two types described above. There might be some obstruction hindering the breathing process, and the brain subsequently stops responding to the alarming situation. Even when the obstruction is removed, breathing is not resumed normally, and hence can cause serious consequences if left undiagnosed.
