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Sleep Apnea

Types of Sleep Apnea

There are three different types of sleep apnea that individuals should be aware of. These types of sleep apnea are called obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea and mixed apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive apnea is the type of sleep apnea most, around 90%, of apnea sufferers experience. This is the type of sleep apnea in which there is something blocking the air passage or trachea.
This can be caused by multiple things such as relaxed throat muscles, fatty tissues in the throat, or even you uvula (the little piece of hanging flesh in back of your throat), tongue or tonsils.

Central Sleep Apnea

The other type of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea. This type of apnea is rare and has to do with the responsiveness between your brain and central nervous system.
When central sleep apnea occurs, the brain is either interrupted and not getting the signal to the central nervous system to use the breathing muscles or the brain just simply is not sending out any signals. In either case, the person suffering from central sleep apnea will stop breathing.

Mixed Sleep Apnea

Mixed sleep apnea is simply a mix of both obstructive and central sleep apnea. One example would be where the obstructive sleep apnea cuts off the flow of oxygen to the brain, increases carbon dioxide levels in the blood and thus commences central sleep apnea, or the interruption of the brain signals to cause proper breathing.

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