What Is Sleep Apnea And How Is It Defined
There are many sleep disorders that affect people. They include insomnia, hypersomnia, bruxism, and sleep apnea. Do you know as to what is sleep apnea? Well, sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing ceases during sleep for short periods of time each lasting from 10 to 30 seconds. Sleep is disrupted in this disorder.
There are two reasons for the cessation of breathing in this medical condition. One reason is because either the brain fails to provide the signal to the lungs to breathe or the central nervous system fails to transmit the brain signal to the lungs to breathe. When the reason is either of these, the sleep apnea is classified as central sleep apnea (CSA).
The other reason for the cessation of breathing in this medical condition is physical obstruction in the upper airway at the back of the mouth. The physical obstruction of the upper airway can be due to extra tissue hanging loose from the palate at the back of the mouth during sleep. Alternatively, the physical obstruction can be due to the relaxing of the upper airway musculature during sleep. The result is clogging of the airway.
There can be some other reasons for the physical obstruction in the upper airway. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids can also block the airway during sleep. Structural anomalies of the skull, jaw, or the face can also cause blockage of the upper airway during sleep. The one surprising aspect of the obstructive breathing difficulties in this medical condition is that they occur only during sleep. Therefore, it seems anomalies in the processing of brain signals during sleep are responsible for the occurrence of the disorder. The above condition characterized by physical blockage of the upper airway is known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It is the commoner of the two types of sleep apneas. However, every incident of breath cessation is not covered under sleep apnea. It is because of this that doctors felt the need to define sleep apnea. The clinical definition of sleep apnea considers that each incident of breathing stoppage during sleep occurs for at least 10 seconds. It also considers that an apnea hypopnea index (AHI) of at least 5 is required to establish sleep apnea. The index defines the number of measured apnea hypopnea events per hour. Hypopnea is the reduction of air flow due to reduction in the density of oxygen. Both apnea and hypopnea are inter-related. The value of AHI indicates the severity of sleep apnea. The more the AHI value, the more severe is the apnea. A sleep apnea patient is hardly aware of its symptoms as it occurs during sleep. The only symptom that the patient is aware of is that of day time sleepiness. Sleep apnea can lead to heart disease. Therefore, now that you are aware of what is sleep apnea, you can inform other people of this medical condition and its consequences.
Sleep Apnea
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