An Overview: What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts while sleeping.  These sleep apnea causes can happen 30 times or more in an hour and range anywhere from a few seconds to minutes, disrupting the person's night's sleep. One way to look out for sleep apnea symptoms is if you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night's sleep. In this blog, we will explore sleep apnea, its symptoms, the different types of sleep apnea, and more.

3 Main Types Of Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea:

Obstructive sleep apnea is one of the most common types of sleep apnea out there. Some common sleep apnea causes are excessive relaxation of throat muscles causing the airway to become blocked leading to temporary discontinuation of breathing.

Central Sleep Apnea

The second type of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea, which occurs when the brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. Sleep apnea causes differ from other forms because the air doesn't get blocked, but a patient's brain doesn't instruct the muscles to breathe while asleep.

Complex Sleep Apnea Syndrome

Lastly, the third type of sleep apnea is called complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea. Patients find this cause of sleep apnea when they have both obstructive and central sleep apnea.

If you think you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor. Treatment can ease your sleep apnea symptoms and might help prevent heart problems and other complications.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apnea overlap, thus making it difficult for doctors to determine which type of sleep apnea you have. The most common sleep apnea symptoms of both these types of sleep apneas include:

• Loud snoring
• Episodes in which you stop breathing during sleep — which would be reported by another person
• Gasping for air during sleep
• Awakening with a dry mouth
• Morning headache
• Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
• Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
• Difficulty paying attention while awake
• Irritability

When To See A Doctor

The most common way to determine when to see your doctor regarding your suspicion of sleeping disorder is when you frequently observe the sleep apnea symptoms mentioned above. Loud snoring can indicate a potentially serious problem, but not everyone with sleep apnea snores. Ask your doctor about any sleep problem that leaves you tired, sleepy, and irritable so that you can determine whether you have sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea Causes

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

As mentioned, this type of sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat relax excessively. These muscles support the soft palate, the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils, the side walls of the throat, and the tongue.

When the muscles relax, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe in. You can't get enough air, which can lower the oxygen level in your blood. Your brain senses your inability to breathe and briefly rouses you from sleep so that you can reopen your airway. This awakening is usually so brief that you don't remember it.

This cause of sleep apnea leads to you snorting, choking, or gasping, with this pattern repeating itself 5 to 30 times or more each hour all night, impairing your ability to reach sleep's deep, restful phases.

CENTRAL SLEEP APNEA

Central sleep apnea is one of the least common types of sleep apnea today. It occurs when your brain fails to transmit signals to your breathing muscles, meaning that you make no effort to breathe for a short period. One of the notable causes of sleep apnea is waking with shortness of breath or having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep.

Sleep Apnea Risk Factors

In our overview of what is sleep apnea, it is essential to know that this sleeping disorder can affect anyone, even children. However, certain factors can increase your risk of getting the above types of sleep apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea causes and factors that increase the risk of this obstructive sleep apnea include:

• Excess weight: One of the factors that risk causing sleep apnea is obesity as fat deposits around your upper airway can obstruct your breathing.

• Neck circumference: Some studies show that one cause of sleep apnea can be related to neck circumference, which is why people with thicker necks might have narrower airways and be at risk of this sleeping disorder.

• Narrowed airway: As mentioned above, this type of sleep apnea can be caused by narrowing of the airways which you might have inherited a narrow throat. Tonsils or adenoids are also a risk factor as they can also enlarge and block the airway, particularly in children.

• Being Men: As per studies on causes of sleep apnea, males are two to three times more likely to have sleep apnea than women. However, women's risk increases if they're overweight or after menopause.

• Being Older: The risk of sleep apnea increases significantly more often in older adults.

• Family History: One of the most important factors to be one the lookout for is family history. Having family members with sleep apnea might increase your risk as well.

• Use Of Alcohol, Sedatives Or Tranquillisers. All these substances relax the muscles in your throat. Excessive muscle relaxation of the throat is a primary sleep apnea symptom, so using these substances can worsen obstructive sleep apnea. 

• Smoking: Smokers are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than people who've never smoked. Increased inflammation and fluid retention in the upper nasal airway are some of the issues that cause sleep apnea.

• Nasal congestion: If you have difficulty breathing through your nose — whether from an anatomical problem or allergies — you're more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea.

Central Sleep Apnea

Different types of sleep apnea come with different factors that cause its onset. Some of risk factors for central sleep apnea include:

• Being older: As per studies performed on sleep apnea, middle-aged and older people tend to have a higher risk of central sleep apnea.

• Being Male: Central sleep apnea is more common in men than it is in women, just like obstructive sleep apnea.

• Heart Disorders: The heart’s inability to pump blood effectively and having congestive heart failure can cause sleep apnea symptoms, thus increasing the risk.

• Using Narcotic Pain Medications: Opioid medications, especially long-acting ones such as methadone, increase the risk of central sleep apnea.

• Stroke: Having a stroke increases your risk of central sleep apnea or treatment-emergent central sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea Complications

All these types of sleep apnea if left untreated can lead to a wide range of complications that can affect both physical and mental health. Some of the complications caused by sleep apnea symptoms can include:

Daytime Fatigue:

The repeated wake-up calls that are common causes of sleep apnea can make normal, restorative sleep impossible. Additionally, one might face difficulty concentrating, staying awake at work, watching TV, or even driving. People with sleep apnea have an increased risk of motor vehicle and workplace accidents.

This complication can cause severe daytime drowsiness, fatigue and irritability. While also leaving you feeling quick-tempered, moody or depressed. Children and adolescents with sleep apnea symptoms might perform poorly in school or have behavioural problems.

High Blood Pressure Or Heart Problems:

Sudden blood oxygen drop during sleep apnea increases blood pressure and strains the cardiovascular system. Obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension).

Obstructive sleep apnea causes also include the risk of recurrent heart attack, stroke and abnormal heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation. If you have heart disease, multiple episodes of low blood oxygen (hypoxia or hypoxemia) can lead to sudden death from an irregular heartbeat.

Type 2 Diabetes:

One of the causes of suffering from sleep apnea is increased risk of developing insulin resistance, thus leading to causing type 2 diabetes.

Metabolic Syndrome:

Metabolic syndrome is a disorder that includes high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood sugar and an increased waist circumference, and is linked to a higher risk of heart disease. Sleep apnea can trigger or even worsen these conditions by repeatedly disrupting breathing leading to intermittent hypoxia ( low oxygen levels).

Medications And Surgery:

Obstructive sleep apnea is also a concern with certain medications and general anaesthesia. People with sleep apnea are more likely to have complications after major surgery as they're prone to breathing problems, especially when sedated and lying on their backs.

It is essential to inform your doctor about your ongoing sleep therapy treatments or if you have doubts about facing sleep apnea symptoms before surgery.

Liver Problems:

Another likely complication for people with sleep apnea are more likely to have abnormal results on liver function tests, and their livers are more likely to show signs of scarring (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease).

Sleep-Deprived Partners

Another complication with sleep apnea symptoms is loud snoring, which can keep anyone who sleeps near you from getting proper rest. It's not uncommon for a partner to have to go to another room, or even to another floor of the house, to be able to sleep.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts while sleeping.  These sleep apnea causes can happen 30 times or more in an hour and range anywhere from a few seconds to minutes, disrupting the person's night's sleep. One way to look out for sleep apnea symptoms is if you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night's sleep. In this blog, we will explore sleep apnea, its symptoms, the different types of sleep apnea, and more.

3 Main Types Of Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea:

Obstructive sleep apnea is one of the most common types of sleep apnea out there. Some common sleep apnea causes are excessive relaxation of throat muscles causing the airway to become blocked leading to temporary discontinuation of breathing.

Central Sleep Apnea

The second type of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea, which occurs when the brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. Sleep apnea causes differ from other forms because the air doesn't get blocked, but a patient's brain doesn't instruct the muscles to breathe while asleep.

Complex Sleep Apnea Syndrome

Lastly, the third type of sleep apnea is called complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea. Patients find this cause of sleep apnea when they have both obstructive and central sleep apnea.

If you think you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor. Treatment can ease your sleep apnea symptoms and might help prevent heart problems and other complications.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apnea overlap, thus making it difficult for doctors to determine which type of sleep apnea you have. The most common sleep apnea symptoms of both these types of sleep apneas include:

• Loud snoring
• Episodes in which you stop breathing during sleep — which would be reported by another person
• Gasping for air during sleep
• Awakening with a dry mouth
• Morning headache
• Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
• Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
• Difficulty paying attention while awake
• Irritability

When To See A Doctor

The most common way to determine when to see your doctor regarding your suspicion of sleeping disorder is when you frequently observe the sleep apnea symptoms mentioned above. Loud snoring can indicate a potentially serious problem, but not everyone with sleep apnea snores. Ask your doctor about any sleep problem that leaves you tired, sleepy, and irritable so that you can determine whether you have sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea Causes

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

As mentioned, this type of sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat relax excessively. These muscles support the soft palate, the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils, the side walls of the throat, and the tongue.

When the muscles relax, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe in. You can't get enough air, which can lower the oxygen level in your blood. Your brain senses your inability to breathe and briefly rouses you from sleep so that you can reopen your airway. This awakening is usually so brief that you don't remember it.

This cause of sleep apnea leads to you snorting, choking, or gasping, with this pattern repeating itself 5 to 30 times or more each hour all night, impairing your ability to reach sleep's deep, restful phases.

CENTRAL SLEEP APNEA

Central sleep apnea is one of the least common types of sleep apnea today. It occurs when your brain fails to transmit signals to your breathing muscles, meaning that you make no effort to breathe for a short period. One of the notable causes of sleep apnea is waking with shortness of breath or having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep.

Sleep Apnea Risk Factors

In our overview of what is sleep apnea, it is essential to know that this sleeping disorder can affect anyone, even children. However, certain factors can increase your risk of getting the above types of sleep apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea causes and factors that increase the risk of this obstructive sleep apnea include:

• Excess weight: One of the factors that risk causing sleep apnea is obesity as fat deposits around your upper airway can obstruct your breathing.

• Neck circumference: Some studies show that one cause of sleep apnea can be related to neck circumference, which is why people with thicker necks might have narrower airways and be at risk of this sleeping disorder.

• Narrowed airway: As mentioned above, this type of sleep apnea can be caused by narrowing of the airways which you might have inherited a narrow throat. Tonsils or adenoids are also a risk factor as they can also enlarge and block the airway, particularly in children.

• Being Men: As per studies on causes of sleep apnea, males are two to three times more likely to have sleep apnea than women. However, women's risk increases if they're overweight or after menopause.

• Being Older: The risk of sleep apnea increases significantly more often in older adults.

• Family History: One of the most important factors to be one the lookout for is family history. Having family members with sleep apnea might increase your risk as well.

• Use Of Alcohol, Sedatives Or Tranquillisers. All these substances relax the muscles in your throat. Excessive muscle relaxation of the throat is a primary sleep apnea symptom, so using these substances can worsen obstructive sleep apnea. 

• Smoking: Smokers are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than people who've never smoked. Increased inflammation and fluid retention in the upper nasal airway are some of the issues that cause sleep apnea.

• Nasal congestion: If you have difficulty breathing through your nose — whether from an anatomical problem or allergies — you're more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea.

Central Sleep Apnea

Different types of sleep apnea come with different factors that cause its onset. Some of risk factors for central sleep apnea include:

• Being older: As per studies performed on sleep apnea, middle-aged and older people tend to have a higher risk of central sleep apnea.

• Being Male: Central sleep apnea is more common in men than it is in women, just like obstructive sleep apnea.

• Heart Disorders: The heart’s inability to pump blood effectively and having congestive heart failure can cause sleep apnea symptoms, thus increasing the risk.

• Using Narcotic Pain Medications: Opioid medications, especially long-acting ones such as methadone, increase the risk of central sleep apnea.

• Stroke: Having a stroke increases your risk of central sleep apnea or treatment-emergent central sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea Complications

All these types of sleep apnea if left untreated can lead to a wide range of complications that can affect both physical and mental health. Some of the complications caused by sleep apnea symptoms can include:

Daytime Fatigue:

The repeated wake-up calls that are common causes of sleep apnea can make normal, restorative sleep impossible. Additionally, one might face difficulty concentrating, staying awake at work, watching TV, or even driving. People with sleep apnea have an increased risk of motor vehicle and workplace accidents.

This complication can cause severe daytime drowsiness, fatigue and irritability. While also leaving you feeling quick-tempered, moody or depressed. Children and adolescents with sleep apnea symptoms might perform poorly in school or have behavioural problems.

High Blood Pressure Or Heart Problems:

Sudden blood oxygen drop during sleep apnea increases blood pressure and strains the cardiovascular system. Obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension).

Obstructive sleep apnea causes also include the risk of recurrent heart attack, stroke and abnormal heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation. If you have heart disease, multiple episodes of low blood oxygen (hypoxia or hypoxemia) can lead to sudden death from an irregular heartbeat.

Type 2 Diabetes:

One of the causes of suffering from sleep apnea is increased risk of developing insulin resistance, thus leading to causing type 2 diabetes.

Metabolic Syndrome:

Metabolic syndrome is a disorder that includes high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood sugar and an increased waist circumference, and is linked to a higher risk of heart disease. Sleep apnea can trigger or even worsen these conditions by repeatedly disrupting breathing leading to intermittent hypoxia ( low oxygen levels).

Medications And Surgery:

Obstructive sleep apnea is also a concern with certain medications and general anaesthesia. People with sleep apnea are more likely to have complications after major surgery as they're prone to breathing problems, especially when sedated and lying on their backs.

It is essential to inform your doctor about your ongoing sleep therapy treatments or if you have doubts about facing sleep apnea symptoms before surgery.

Liver Problems:

Another likely complication for people with sleep apnea are more likely to have abnormal results on liver function tests, and their livers are more likely to show signs of scarring (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease).

Sleep-Deprived Partners

Another complication with sleep apnea symptoms is loud snoring, which can keep anyone who sleeps near you from getting proper rest. It's not uncommon for a partner to have to go to another room, or even to another floor of the house, to be able to sleep.