Sleep Apnea

The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath". Sleep apnea is an illness whereby people suffer from pauses in breathing many times during each night's sleep. Those suffering from it often complain about of excessive daytime sleepiness or bad sleep. It can occur to anyone at any age, and is a serious and life-threatening disorder which affects more men than women, and those with narcolepsy (see Narcolepsy) also are more prone to getting sleep apnea. Once developed, the illness seems to remain for life, where in some cases the symptoms reach maximum severity very quickly while in other cases the symptoms commences gradually and require years before reaching its most serious level.

There are three types of sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, upper airway or obstructive sleep apnea and mixed sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea is a rare central nervous system disorder. People suffering from this type of sleep apnea when asleep, the diaphragm stops moving because the sleeping brain fails to send impulses through the nerves which control the movement of the diaphragm. When the diaphragm stops functioning, breathing stops as well. Upper airway or obstructive sleep apnea is a more common and serious type of apnea. This type of apnea does not affect the diaphragm, but there is an abnormal loss of tone in the muscles of the tongue, throat, larynx during sleep. The result is that at the onset of or during sleep, the throat collapses and blocks the airway. During a apneic episode, the diaphragm continues to contract rhythmically with a progressively greater effort against the closed airway until a partial or complete awakening occurs and normal breathing is resumed. Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of the above two types. This is more common in people who also have narcolepsy. These apneic episodes always begin with central sleep apnea, then turning into upper airway sleep apnea. However, the reverse order is not seen.