Sleep apnea is a condition that causes people to stop breathing, usually repeatedly, during their sleep. It can happen hundreds of times during the night and may cause the person to stop breathing for up to a minute or longer. There are 3 types of sleep apnea:
- Obstructive sleep apnea - is caused by an obstruction in the airway, usually the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapsing and closing off the airway.
- Central sleep apnea - is caused by the brain failing to send the message to the muscles in the chest to breath. There is no blockage of the airway.
- Mixed sleep apnea - is a combination of the two other types of sleep apnea. The brain fails to send the signal as well as a blockage in the throat.
With each type of sleep apnea, after a period of no breathing, the brain will send a message to the body to wake up, where breathing is then resumed. This causes a poor fragmented sleep where it is difficult to fall into any kind of deep restful sleep. Sleep apnea is a serious condition for many reasons. It deprives the individual of oxygen, causing higher blood pressure and undue stress on the heart. It also causes sleep deprivation which can lead to an assortment of other problems, like memory problems, weight gain, impotency and headaches. Sleep apnea is extremely common, as if affects more than 12 million Americans, but because of poor public awareness it usually goes undiagnosed.
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