Sleep apnea is a term that is briefly used to describe the cessation of breath or difficulty in breathing during sleep. There are three types of sleep apneas namely, obstructive, central and the mixed type wherein both the types tend to occur. Of these three types, the most common one is the obstructive type, the central type of sleep apnea is rarer and the mixed type occurs at a frequency much less than the common obstructive types.
Obstructive sleep apnea, the most common among the two types, is characterized by constant pauses in the sleep that occur due to the collapse of the airway and especially the upper respiratory tract. This is leads to a reduction in the oxygen levels that are taken in by the body and thus lead to syndromes that lead to difficulty in breathing. This is more commonly termed as the apnea event. The neurological apnea on the other hand is central to the nervous system and is characterized as one of the more severe forms of apnea due to the saturation of the blood oxygen.
This type of apnea is said to directly involve the brain and children are more affected with this type of apnea rather than the adults. This type of apnea is more hereditary and thus involves greater deals of procedures such as surgery or more to wade off the symptoms. This involves the brain stem that directly controls the suction power of the nostrils and breathing, and thus central apnea tends to shut down the respiratory effort completely leading to a massive failure. Since it involves the brain, the reflex immediately acts up and the person awake with a short sleep, unlike obstructive apnea where the person tends to sleep with loads of snoring around.
How can you identify apnea? This is identified by means of loud snoring that may last from 10 seconds or even more. The end of the snoring period is accompanied by means of gasping, moaning, mumbling, and more. This may lead to falling asleep during odd times of the day, say for instance, while watching TV, during travel, while driving and much more. Even if one doesn’t feel sleepy, the very idea of falling asleep instantly or more fatigue could be a more appropriate symptom.
Thus, it can be aptly stated that not all snoring are symptoms of apnea, though one needs to conclude with proper examination and treatment.
