Having a partner or a roommate who snores is alarming not only because it disrupts your sleep, but also because it might be a sign of a severe sleeping disorder known as sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is more than just a serious case of snoring. It happens when one repeatedly stops breathing for some times while sleeping. This means that people suffering from sleep apnea have the possibility of not having oxygen delivered to their brains and whole body for a period. Orthodontics laboratories have come up with appliances that can help solve this problem. To know which type of sleeping aid appliance to use, it is important to know the different kinds of sleep apnea.
3 Kinds of Sleep Apnea
1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
This is the most common type of sleep apnea diagnosis. OSA happens when the throat muscles relax, tonsils are inflamed, or the shape of one’s nose or jaw are not normal causing the airflow to the lungs to be restricted. This air restriction causes the snoring sound.
2. Central Sleep Apnea
This type of sleep apnea is more complicated than OSA. It is caused by your brain not signaling the right muscles to breathe during sleep. Thus in some cases, there is no physical airway obstruction, but the lungs are not getting air because the brain stops commanding the body to breathe. Severe damage can happen to the body when the brain stops receiving oxygen for an extended period of time. People suffering from central sleep apnea sometimes do not snore at all making it harder to diagnose.
3. Mixed Sleep Apnea
As the name suggests, it is the combination of two other types of sleep apnea. This happens when your airway is obstructed by certain organs while your brain fails to signal your body to breathe at the same time.
Sleep apnea is more than just a snoring problem; it is a serious sleep disorder that can have permanent effects in your life if left untreated. Suspecting that you have sleep apnea? Consult your doctor and get diagnosed now.
