Everything You Need To Know About Central Sleep Apnea
Does your doctor suspect you have central sleep apnea? Here are things you should know about that disease.
What Is Central Sleep Apnea?
Central sleep apnea is also known as CSA, this disorder records repeatedly stop breathing during a person’s sleep.
It happens because your brain doesn’t send the right signals to the muscles that are responsible to control proper breathing. This condition is different from obstructive sleep apnea in which a person can’t breathe properly because something is obstructing the upper airway causing a person to have pauses in breathing.
Central sleep apnea is less common than obstructive sleep apnea but considered as more serious type of sleep apnea. .CSA may occur as a result of other conditions, such as heart failure and stroke. Sleeping at a high altitude also may cause central sleep apnea.
What Are Its Symptoms?
What are the reasons why your doctor subjects you proper testing for the diagnosis of CSA? Here are the most common symptoms that you might be experiencing.
- Episodes of stopped breathing or abnormal breathing patterns during sleep
- Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath
- Shortness of breath that's relieved by sitting up
- Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
- Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
- Chest pain at night
- Difficulty concentrating
- Mood changes
- Morning headaches
- Snoring
- Lower tolerance for exercise
Why Are You Experiencing This?
I know things and questions are on your mind on why and what are the possible causes. We list all for you:
Cheyne-Stokes breathing - is an abnormal pattern of breathing characterized by progressively deeper, and sometimes faster, breathing followed by a gradual decrease that results in a temporary stop in breathing called apnea. The pattern repeats, with each cycle usually taking 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Drug-induced apnea - Drugs responsible for apnea during development are numerous, but more than half of the problems are induced by sedatives and hypnotics, among which phenothiazines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines (included transplacentally acquired) and general anesthetics are a few.
High-altitude periodic breathing - This breathing pattern is called high-altitude periodic breathing (PB). It occurs even in healthy persons at altitudes above 6000 ft.
Treatment-emergent central sleep apnea - is characterized by the emergence or persistence of central apneas while undergoing treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) such as while using positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy.
Idiopathic (primary) central sleep apnea - is characterized by periodic episodes of apnea or hypopnea resulting from decreased neural input to the respiratory motor neurons. ICSA patients usually present with complaints of snoring, witnessed apneas, restless sleep, insomnia and/or excessive daytime sleepiness.
Reference:
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/central-sleep-apnea-risk-factors-clinical-presentation-and-diagnosis?topicRef=7719&source=see_link
https://www.sleepapnea.org/learn/sleep-apnea/central-sleep-apnea/
