Sleep Apnea Cause
Sleep apnea cause
Both a breathing and a sleep disorder, sleep apnea consists in the partial breathing cessation during sleep, for a regular period of time. According to the severity of the condition, one may stop breathing from five to even fifty times per hour, which may lead to very serious health problems owing to the deprivation of oxygen in the tissue and in the blood flow. In order to develop a correct and efficient treatment for this disorder, the sleep apnea cause needs to be identified by a health care provider. Several tests and close sleep observations are required to make the correct diagnosis.
One major sleep apnea cause consists in the presence of unwanted tissue at the level of the upper respiratory tract: polyps, enlarged adenoids and tonsils are very often at the root of the problem. For such cases, surgical treatment is the only one acceptable, but polyps, for instance, can re-grow, requiring other surgical procedures. Once the sleep apnea cause is identified and dealt with, the person can resume a normal night rest with or without the help of special therapeutic devices. In case of sleep apnea triggered by obesity, losing weight is the first step towards solving the sleep problem.
Another sleep apnea cause is a congenital deformation of the jaw, neck or throat structure; for such a situation there may either be a medical solution to solve the problem or a way to keep the condition under control and prevent further deterioration. Presently, there are all sorts of devices especially designed to solve the discomfort and health issues created by sleep apnea regardless of its nature. Depending on the type of sleep apnea cause, we can actually identify two types of apnea: the obstructive form and the central one; the latter is the most serious since the breathing cessation occurs due to poor brain control.
The main central sleep apnea cause is a dysfunction at the level of the thalamus area; and this dysfunction is rooted in a stroke, or a severe disease like poliomyelitis and encephalitis. Furthermore, another possible cause hiding behind central sleep apnea is the surgical intervention at the level of the cervical spine or the possible radiation treatments. For such cases of breathing deficiency and sleep disorder, doctors recommend solutions that can solve the external part of the problem: the insufficient oxygen level. Yet, there is not much to be done when it comes to the internal aspect responsible for the condition in the first place.