| Sleep Information Center |
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7:24:04 PM on Saturday, 3rd January 2004
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Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea comes from the greek word "apnea" which literally means "without breath". There are 3 different types of sleep apnea. The 3 types of sleep apnea are obstructive, central, and mixed, of the 3 obstructive is the most common. What is sleep apnea? People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the course of the evening often for a minute or longer.
In the case of obstructive sleep apnea a blockage of the airway is usually
caused when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and
closes during sleep. With central sleep apnea the brain fails to signal
the muscles to breath . Mixed sleep apnea is as the name implies a combination
of the two. With each sleep apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people
with sleep apnea in order to start them breathing once again. Unfortunately
people with sleep apnea have extremely fragmented and overall poor quality
sleep.
Sleep apnea is very common. Sleep apnea is actually as common as diabetes is in adults. According to the national institutes of health sleep apnea affects more than 12 million people just in the United States alone. Sleep apnea can strike any person at any time, any age, even children. The highest risk factor for sleep apnea include being male, overweight, and over the age of 40.
