SLEEP APNEA & DISORDERS:

 The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath.” There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common.

Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer.

WHAT CAUSES SLEEP APNEA?

Muscles relax more during sleep than they do during waking hours, including the muscles that are necessary for opening the upper breathing passage. In most people , this normal process doesn’t cause problems. However, for stll unknown reasons, some people’s throat muscles relax too much. This relaxation compromises breathing and makes sleep a risky activity.

In other people , the muscles relax to a normal degree during sleep but because the throat passage is narrower than normal, closure occurs.

In some cases the problem lies in the part of the brain that controls breathing during sleep. The brain appears to forget to send out the necessary signal to the muscles that control breathing.

TYPES OF SLEEP APNEA:

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea, which happens when the upper airway gets blocked during sleep. Most often, the blockage happens when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. Relaxed throat muscles, a narrow airway, a large tongue or extra fatty tissue in the throat can also block the airway.

Central apnea and mixed apnea are other types of sleep apnea, but are more rare. In central sleep apnea the part of the brain that controls breathing doesn’t work properly.

IF UNTREATED, SLEEP APNEA CAN:

• Increase the risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and diabetes in some individuals
• Increase the risk for or worsen heart failure
• Make irregular heartbeats more likely
• Increase the chance of having work-related or driving accidents

Lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, surgery, and/or breathing devices can successfully treat sleep apnea in many people.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK FOR SLEEP APNEA?

Men, women and children of all ages can have sleep apnea. Your risk is higher if you:

• Smoke
• Drink alcohol 
•  Are overweight
• Have a large tongue
• Have a narrow throat
•        Have large adenoids and tonsils (in children)