Types Of Sleep Apnea Treatment Available

By Author: Jake Sully
Total Articles: 7
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Sleep apnea is a very common disorder that is characterized by very brief interruptions in sleep while breathing. This causes severe disturbances in the sleep pattern and the episodes may last for ten seconds or slightly more. These episodes also occur through the night leaving the person feeling fatigued due to the lack of sleep. Those with sleep apnea typically awaken very frequently as they struggle to breathe. There are two types of sleep apnea - obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is the more common of the two. This is caused due to the relaxation of the soft tissue in the back of the throat. This blocks the free passage of air and causes obstruction in breathing. Central sleep apnea is caused due to the irregularities in the brain as it fails to get proper signals to breathe.

Most often people who have this disorder will have a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea. The most noticeable symptoms of this disorder are increased daytime sleepiness. The other symptoms of this sleep disorder are loud snoring, restless sleep, morning headaches, falling asleep during the ...
... day, trouble concentrating, forgetfulness, irritability, mood alterations, behavioral changes, depression, and anxiety etc. However, not everyone who has these symptoms suffer from sleep apnea. People who have one or more of these symptoms must visit the doctor and get evaluated to get to know the underlying cause. This is more common in men than in women, as well as in obese or overweight individuals.

There are various types of sleep apnea treatment available to treat this problem but it would depend on the person's medical history as well as the severity of the disorder. The first thing that is suggested to those who have sleep apnea is to make certain lifestyle changes such as avoidance of alcohol, losing weight, as well as quitting smoking. Apart from this, they are put on medications to relax the muscles as well as sedatives to help relax the central nervous system.

Sometimes, special pillows or devices are given to prevent people from sleeping on their backs, or other oral appliances that help to keep the airways open during sleep. However, these are all conservative sleep apnea treatment methods and if this doesn’t help, then doctors will recommend other methods. Continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP as it is often called is another sleep apnea treatment technique where a facemask is attached to tube and a machine pumps pressurized air into the mask in order to keep the airways open. There are also machines which offer variable positive airway pressure also known as VPAP, and automatic positive airway pressure or APAP.

Apart from this, there are surgical options that are used, where the soft tissue is removed to widen the airway. At times, sleep apnea treatment may include combination therapies to treat sleep apnea successfully. Sleep apnea if left untreated can be life threatening. Sometimes, a person may fall asleep while driving and individuals with sleep apnea are also at an increased risk for transient ischemic attacks, cardiac ailments, hypertension, or strokes. Successful sleep apnea treatment can prevent associated risks.

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