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Sleep apnea is a condition which, due to any number of reasons, causes a person to either struggle for breath, or stop breathing altogether during sleep. Depending on the condition, there may be many symptoms. Usually the most obvious symptom is recognised by ones sleeping partner, who may observe their partner wheezing or not appearing to breath, before suddenly gasping for air. This can happen several times throughout the night, and due to the half-sleep state in which it is done in, the sufferers are usually unaware it is happening.
There are three kinds of sleep apnea, which are:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): This form of sleep apnea is the most common and caused by physical obstructions within the airways. An obstruction can be absolutely anything which causes the airways to be obstructed or narrowed, such as inflamed glands within the airways, or excess tissue fat in the obese. In Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the person physically tries to breath but is unable to draw in oxygen due to the obstruction. Whilst a person may or may not also suffer breathing difficulty during their waking hours, during deep sleep (particularly if laid on the back), the airways tend to relax thus making the airways narrower.
After a few seconds of trying to breathe, a person may snore loudly before spluttering or gasping for air. This is an emergency measure the brain takes to kick start breathing, as once a person leaves deep sleep, the airways contract becoming wider. As a person drifts back into deep sleep, they usually again begin gasping for air, and this happens repeatedly throughout the night.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA): The cause of this type of sleep apnea is a brain malfunction. A persons breathing is automatically controlled by an area of the brain, which in some people may not work correctly during sleep. Therefore as a person sleeps, suddenly all physical attempts to breathe cease for what may be either seconds or up to two minutes before suddenly starting to breathe again.
Mixed Sleep Apnea (MSA): This is a mixture of the above two forms of sleep apnea.
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