What is Central Sleep Apnea?
If you are experiencing restless nights for some time and are unable to sleep well, you might have sleep apnea. It is a sleep disorder in which your breathing stops and starts several times through the night. Because of this, you wake up from your slumber numerous times and feel groggy the next day.
Other sleep apnea symptoms that you might notice include pauses in breathing followed by noisy breathing, loud snoring, waking up gasping for air, headaches, irritability, fatigue, and difficulty staying asleep. If you notice these signs, it is vital to consult your sleep expert. This way, you can successfully diagnose the type of sleep apnea you have and begin the correct treatment right away.
In a nutshell, there are three types of sleep apnea. These include central, obstructive, and mixed sleep apnea. Today, we will discuss what is central sleep apnea and its symptoms.
Explain Central Sleep Apnea
Central sleep apnea is a common disease in which your breathing stops and starts at any time in the middle of the night. Poor respiratory action is linked with your brain’s failure to stimulate muscles to inhale air. Now, what happens is that your mind sends a signal to the diaphragm and the muscles of the rib cage contract for carrying out breathing activity. But, in people with central sleep apnea, the breathing action is hindered because of a lack of communication between the brain and the respiratory muscles.
What are the different types of central sleep apnea?
Central sleep apnea is divided into two different categories, each of which has its subtypes-
Hypoventilation Type-
In hypoventilation central sleep apnea, the brain fails to send signals to the muscles to initiate breathing action. In such cases, carbon dioxide gets built up. Narcotic-induced central sleep apnea, central sleep apnea related to a medical condition, congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, central sleep apnea caused due to neuromuscular disease are some of its subtypes.
2. Hyperventilation Type-
The second category includes hyperventilation followed by pauses in breathing. Basically, what it means is that in this type of sleep apnea, the patient takes quick deep breaths and then suddenly pauses breathing altogether. It happens because of aberrant pacing and controlled respiration. Some subtypes of this category include chyne-strokes breathing, altitude-induced periodic breathing, idiopathic central sleep apnea, and altitude-induced periodic breathing.
What are the symptoms of central sleep apnea?
Unlike OSA, CSA doesn’t have snoring as a common symptom. In most cases, it gets revealed because your sleeping partner notices the following symptoms-
Pause in breathing
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Waking up feeling unrefreshed
Morning headaches
Since these symptoms are not very specific, people need to consult their doctors and get diagnosed with sleep apnea if they suspect these symptoms.
So, central sleep apnea is a health condition that affects your sleep. It occurs because your brain fails to send proper signals to the muscles to carry out respiratory action.
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