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Sleep Apnea - Symptoms and Types
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Sleep apnea is a disorder
experienced by many people in our community. Some estimates put
the figure as high as 10%. The symptoms of sleep apnea include
loud snoring, waking up often during the night, being
excessively tired, being irritable, and experiencing depression
during the day. The word apnea means without rest.
One of the characteristics of people with sleep apnea is that
while they are sleeping they will have periods when they stop
breathing, sometimes for as long as a minute. The result of this
is that the blood oxygen level falls, and the subconscious mind,
which is monitoring the blood oxygen level, alerts the body and
so it wakes up. Some people with sleep apnea may wake up several
hundred times a night, without ever realising it.
The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea,
usually referred to as OSA. It happens because the throat closes
completely during sleep. This happens because the suction forces
that come from snoring cause the persons tongue and soft palate,
to be sucked into the airway and block it. When the person wakes
up, the muscles in the throat and tongue contract and the person
starts to breathe again.
Another type of sleep apnea is central apnea. This happens when
the brain and the nervous system are not co-ordinated in telling
the body when to breathe.
Mixed apnea includes elements of both obstructive and central
apnea. |
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