![]() In obese people when an excess amount of tissue in the airway causes it to be narrowed.When the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula relax and sag, the airway becomes blocked, making breathing labored and noisy and even stopping it altogether.When the throat muscles and tongue relax during sleep and partially block the opening of the airway.With obstructive sleep apnea, certain mechanical and structural problems in the airway cause the interruptions in breathing during sleep. Frequent arousals, although necessary for breathing to restart, prevent restorative, deep sleep. Breathing is resumed, often with a loud snort or gasp. With each arousal, a signal is sent from the brain to the upper airway muscles to open the airway. This results in low levels of oxygen and increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, which alerts the brain to resume breathing, causing an arousal. These events are usually accompanied by snoring between apnea episodes, and you may experience choking sensations.ĭuring an apneic event, you can’t breathe in oxygen or exhale carbon dioxide. There may be as many as 20 to 30 or more events per hour. With sleep apnea, you have involuntary breathing pauses or "apneic events" during a single night's sleep. Central sleep apnea is less common than obstructive sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea happens when the brain fails to send the appropriate signals to the muscles to start breathing. ![]() Obstructive sleep apnea happens when air can’t flow into or out of the nose or mouth although efforts to breathe continue.It’s far more common than once thought, affecting as many as 18 million Americans of all ages and both genders (although it is more common in men). Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. ![]()
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