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Sleep Disorder: Sleep Apnea
Perhaps your partner mentioned that you may have a disorder called "sleep apnia"? You may assume that you sleep perfectly every night, but who are you to know... You're sleeping, right?
By the way, the correct spelling is sleep apnea or sleep apnoea.
A Sleep Disorder Called What?
My dictionary calls it a "transient cessation of breathing". So what is it? Sleep apnea is basically a disorder that occurs when your body forgets to breathe. It could be due to physical obstruction or simply laziness on your subconscious' part...
Because you are sleeping when it occurs, you would rarely know that you are affected by this disorder as it happens. However, a bed partner may well be aware of it before you.
Two Types of Sleep Apnia... oops Sleep Apnea
There are two types of sleep apnea:
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This is the one that occurs because of a physical obstruction in the path of your breathing. It could be caused by a temporary ailment (e.g., cold, flu, etc.) or perhaps your physical body itself. The most common reason for obstructive sleep apnea is the soft walls of the throat softening and relaxing as you fall asleep. These walls end up blocking the path in your throat and as such create the obstruction. It is believed that 1 in 5 Americans suffer from mild obstructive sleep apnea.
- Central Sleep Apnea. This is caused by a temporary failure of your neurological controls. The signal normally sent to your body to inhale and start another breathing cycle somehow does not get transmitted. The obvious danger with central sleep apnea is that the level of oxygen in your blood will continue to decrease and the level of carbon monoxide (CO2) will continue to increase, increasing the chances of brain damage and even death. Good news is that it is quite rare to suffer from such powerful central sleep apnea.
Are You at Risk of Getting Sleep Apnea?
Studies show that obese people have a greater chance of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea due to the additional skin, weight of tissues, etc.
Taking depressants (some clinical drugs, alcohol, etc.) affect your neurological controls and can increase your odds of having central sleep apnea.
How Long is Too Long?
Most differentiate between a regular pause between breathing and sleep apnea by the time elapsed. For an adult, a pause lasting more than 10 seconds between two breaths is considered sleep apnea.
I hope that this information on sleep apnea was useful. Learn how to improve your sleep here.