There are many potential causes of disrupted breathing during sleep, one of which is central sleep apnea.
Because the underlying cause of central sleep apnea is distinct from obstructive sleep apnea, it requires specialized treatment.
This leads to a brief pause in breathing that may last 10 seconds or longer.
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Though the cause is slightly different, the outcome of central sleep apnea is the same.
Apnea comes from the Greek and means “no breath”.
As such, it is associated with drops in the oxygen levels of the blood.
The brain detects this and there is an effort to wake the afflicted person so you can restore breathing.
Witnesses may observe noisy or irregular breathing at night and may even see pauses in breathing.
The apneic event leads to briefarousalfrom sleep.
As this occurs repeatedly during the night, it leads to fragmented sleep and less deep sleep.
This may result ininsomniaandexcessive daytime sleepiness.
Causes
The exact cause of central sleep apnea is not known.
The respiratory control center in the brain normally regulates breathing.
As mentioned above, unlike in obstructive sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked.
It may sometimes occur after awakening and is called a post-arousal central in this case.
The instability of respiratory control is often seen in multiple neurologic disorders, includingParkinsons diseaseand multiple system atrophy.
It may be seen after a stroke, especially if the brainstem has been damaged.
It may also occur in association with theCheyne-Stokes breathing patternseen in patients withcongestive heart failure.
It may occur more commonly among those who use narcotic or opioid pain medications.
Fortunately, in this case, it will resolve with discontinuation of therapy.
It may be worsened if pressures are too high.
This is calledcomplex sleep apnea.
It does not require other changes in therapy.
Cloth belts wrapped around your stomach and chest are used to measure breathing effort.
It will also be possible to document drops in blood oxygen level and changes in theEEGsuggesting sleep fragmentation.
The air is pressurized by a small machine and delivered through plastic hosing to the mask.
Oxygen may also be used.
Some devices are capable of delivering an extra breath if long pauses in breathing our observed.
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