Central Sleep Apnea
Central Sleep Apnea
It is defined as the cessation of breath during sleep and start again after few or more seconds. It is occurred when there is interruption of the brain stimulation to the breathing muscles. In obstructive sleep apnea there is an obstruction in airway system which stop breathing but in central sleep apnea there is problem in brain stimulation.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms include:
Causes
It is occurred when there is lack of stimulation from brain to your muscles which help in breathing. Different types of sleep apnea have different cause which include:
- Cheyne stroke breathing is mostly cause due to stroke or congestive heart failure.
- High altitude breathing difficulty
- Drug induce apnea like morphine and oxycodone may cause breathing problems
- Idiopathic sleep apnea when exact cause is don’t know.
Complications
If left untreated it may lead to the following complications:
- Heart diseases
- Fatigue due to the lack of sleep
- Hypoxemia
Diagnosis
Your doctor first of all take your history about signs and symptoms, then further evaluate the condition by sleep study called polysomnography in this study you hear brain and lung connected with monitors and check the breathing patterns and oxygen supply during each breath. It will help to diagnosis the exact cause of your condition.
Treatment
Treatment options include:
- Avoid opioid if it induces the sleep apnea
- Wear a mask during sleep over your nose which provide the continuous positive airway pressure it is the first line management of sleep apnea disorder.
- Treat underlying disease which cause this problem like heart disease.
- Bilevel positive airway pressure
- Oxygen supplementation