Sleep apnea, which is often ignored, is actually quite a serious disorder; and to be able to treat it effectively one needs to understand the disorder in general and the causes of sleep apnea in particular.

Sleep apnea basically results in regular pauses in breathing, and if the disorder is ignored and not treated, the condition can exacerbate leading to continuous breathing problems while asleep, which further results in the lack of oxygen in the blood which can be quite dangerous.

What causes sleep apnea?

Before studying the causes of sleep apnea, it will be helpful to quickly go over the types of the disorder, as that will then aid us in understanding the causes of sleep apnea far better. There are essentially three types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive Sleep Apnea – This is the most common, and results in breathing problems due to blockage of the airway passage, often due to the tissues at the back of the throat collapsing when one is asleep.

Central Sleep Apnea – Not as common as obstructive apnea, this type occurs due to a neurological issue. The nervous system in charge of the breathing process at times fails to send the breathing signals to the muscles, and as a results leads to breathing problems.

Complex Sleep Apnea – The third type is basically a mixture of the first two, where the patients show signs of both physical and neurological issues leading to irregular breathing patterns.

Having briefly distinguished the three types of sleep apnea, it will now be helpful to understand the causes of sleep apnea by considering each of the types in turn.

Causes of Sleep Apnea – Obstructive Apnea

As briefly mentioned above, the major cause of this type of sleep apnea is the collapsing of the muscles at the back of the throat while one is asleep. Once these tissues collapse, the airways passage becomes narrow and hence hinders regular breathing. The nervous system senses the lack of oxygen intake due to the pauses in breathing, and that is why it makes you wake up so as to be able to be breathe comfortably again. Often the patients do not remember this act of waking up once they get up in the morning and as a result the condition is ignored.

Causes of Sleep Apnea – Central Apnea

The major cause of this type of sleep apnea is neurological in nature, as it is caused when the brain fails to send the relevant breathing signal to the breathing muscles. Often when the brain is preoccupied in monitoring the carbon dioxide levels, it forgets to keep track of the oxygen level. Like with obstructive apnea, if you suffer from this disorder you are likely to get up frequently at night gasping for air. Usually people who have heart diseases, and at times even stroke problems are likely to have central sleep apnea.

Causes of Sleep Apnea – Complex Apnea

As it is a mixture of the above two types, people suffering from this type have problems in the airway obstruction as well as minor issues in the breathing rhythm.

Now having understood the causes of sleep apnea, you will be in a better position to understand the techniques that will effectively treat the disorder!