What are the different types of sleep apnea?

Sleep Apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs due to the tissue collapsing in the airway thereby interrupting the breath while sleeping. Such intermittent episodes of pauses in breathing while sleeping affect the sleep cycle due to which the victims have to partly wake up several times. However, the sufferers would not understand that their sleep is disrupted. This is why some people feel drowsy during the daytime even after getting enough sleep at night.

Despite its prevalence, the problem is misdiagnosed in most cases. This is because the victims are unaware of its typical signs like breathing pauses, snoring, gasping for air, and others occurring when they sleep. If it goes untreated, such frequent periodic pauses of breath will weaken your immune system followed by causing serious problems like high blood pressure, heart diseases, etc.

Sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea have a direct correlation to dental problems. We have noticed that interrupted sleep has triggered dental problems like gum problems, teeth decay, dry mouth, etc in many people. Sleep apnea is classified based on its underlying causes that range from nerve problems to even oral dilemmas. Apart from the same characteristic symptoms, the aftereffects of each type vary.

What are the different types of sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is categorized into 3 types – Obstructive sleep apnea, Central sleep apnea, and Complex sleep apnea

1) Obstructive sleep apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea, also known as OSA, is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder. It is caused by the functional obstruction in the throat. In general, the throat muscles support the soft tissues (like tonsils, uvula) located at the back of the throat and should be relaxed during sleep.

When those muscles collapse, the tissues slide back into the throat partly so that airway obstruction happens. It means OSA makes a person difficult to get air in the upper airway even though the lungs work properly. As soon as the brain identifies the body is getting enough air for breath, it signals the person to wake up so that he/she can reopen the airway with little effort.

Risk Factors – It happens with aging, especially for men. Similarly, obese people, pregnant women, people who sleep on their backs are highly prone to this kind of sleep apnea.

Its symptoms include:

• Snoring
• Awaking with dryness in the mouth
• Frequent headaches
• Feeling tired when you wake up

If you are suffering from Obstructive sleep apnea, don’t worry. Your dentist will fix this problem with medications, surgical procedures, oral appliances, CPAP machines, etc.

2) Central sleep apnea

Central sleep apnea is not prevalent as Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Unlike OSA which occurs due to collapse in the throat muscles, Central sleep apnea happens when the brain and nervous system do not send signals to the muscles that regulate the breath. Hence the victim would encounter temporary cessation in breathing and urges him/her to awake frequently.

Smokers and people who take drugs frequently have high chances of developing central sleep apnea. OSA and Central sleep apnea have similar symptoms like pauses in breathing, tiredness in the daytime, etc but it does not cause snoring. This is because the throat muscles do not rattle here.

In simply, Central sleep apnea happens due to neurological problems whereas OSA is induced by mechanical problems in the throat muscles. Fixing this sleep apnea is quite difficult but can be addressed to a great extent by resolving its underlying cause.

3) Complex sleep apnea

Doctors have identified a new kind of sleep apnea called Complex sleep apnea recently. It is found that this sleep apnea combines the properties of both obstructive & central sleep apnea. As the researchers are still going on to discover more about this, its unique symptoms are still unrevealed so diagnosis is quite difficult.

Mostly, the complex sleep apnea victims show signs of OSA but it cannot be treated fully with CPAP procedure and other obstructive sleep apnea treatments. Likewise, the breathing problems persist even after getting rid of OSA. Hence dentists have to check if the patient has central sleep apnea for which traditional OSA treatments do not provide the cure.

Bottom line

Sleep apnea is a prevalent but unacquainted disorder as the sufferers encounter difficulties without their knowledge in their slumber. Despite it appearing a normal and harmless condition, it is powerful to land you in various life-threatening conditions due to frequent breath stoppage.

Remember that if a person has interrupted sleep frequently, he/she might have periodic cessations in breathing, and each time it lasts for more than 10 seconds due to which the person awakes. They are suffering from sleep apnea and should see their dentist as soon as possible.