The degree of suffering from sleep apnea is so severe and traumatic that there are perhaps not many words to describe it. This distressful sleep disorder not only affects the victim but also the person sharing the same room or the same bed. Marked by recurrent gasps and pauses in breathing, sleep apnea interestingly has a very uneventful start. It all begins when you decide to ignore snoring and leave this seemingly simple sleep disorder untreated.

Be that as it may, there is always one burning question plaguing the mind of every person associated with this horrific sleep disorder. That is what causes sleep apnea? There could be three categories of people wanting to get exhaustive information on the causes of sleep apnea: current sufferers who are going through one of the worst phases of his or her life; those who are already experiencing some of the sleep apnea symptoms and feel that they might be heading for this condition; and those who perceive themselves to be high-risk individuals.

Whichever category you may belong to, you have landed at one of the best sites on the subject: ApneaCauses.Org. We extend a very warm welcome to all of you. We have tried our best to gather as much information in this site about what sleep apnea is, causes of sleep apnea including obstructive sleep apnea causes as well as central sleep apnea causes, though this type of apnea is less common than obstructive sleep apnea. We have also discussed methodologies of diagnosing this condition so that you could seek early treatment and get sustained relief without any delay.

What is sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is one of the worst types of sleep disorders that happens when the respiratory tract narrows and does not allow air to pass through during breathing. It originates when snoring is left untreated for a long time. Sleep apnea is characterized by recurrent pauses in breathing during sleep to the tune of 5 to 30 times in an hour and one may have several such apnea episodes during the night.

There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central and mixed. Essentially, all of them are linked to the basic coordination or the lack of it,  between the brain remitting signals to the breathing muscles to breathe in an out. The disorder results from sub-optimal or missing coordination between the two either due to the brain’s incapability to send out signals or the incapacity of the breathing muscles to interpret and follow the commands.

Obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type of sleep apnea happens when there is a complete collapse and blockage of the upper respiratory tract.  Here the breathing muscles successfully receive the brain commands, but are incapable to follow them through as the airway is blocked by obstructions causing serious impedance to breathing.

Central sleep apnea, the less common type of sleep apnea is usually fallout of some pre-existing medical conditions or the after-effect of certain medications. It happens when the brain does not send out any signal to the breathing muscles to breathe and therefore no effort is made by the victim to breathe.

Though most of the sleep apnea symptoms appear when the victim is asleep, there are several symptoms that are visible to others as well as some that the victim can experience. Symptoms apparent to others are: frequent gasps for breath during sleep; loud and persistent snoring, etc. The symptoms that the victim can feel and witness include rapid and unexplained weight gain, mood deterioration including depression, excessive daytime tiredness, etc.

In case you are a habitual snorer and have experienced a few sleep apnea symptoms already, you can get a medical confirmation of your condition by getting a sleep apnea test done. Called the polysomnogrtaphy examination, it is the primary objective type of test that provides vital clues to the attending physician regarding the severity of the condition, location of obstruction in the airway, and more such data.

Read more about such topics in more detail in:  What is sleep apnea

What causes sleep apnea?

As you may have guessed by now, many of the causes of sleep apnea are also reasons why people snore. Obesity, excessive consumption of alcohol, nasal obstructions caused by common cold/allergies or anatomical defects like deviated septum, age-related incapacity, etc are some of the leading causes of sleep apnea. Another important cause of sleep apnea could be the current medical condition that the victim is suffering from. There are plenty of illnesses that could result in sleep apnea including Down syndrome, mucopolysaccharidosis type I Hurler syndrome. Marfan syndrome, glaucoma, etc.

The cause of sleep apnea could also have links with the current medicines that the victim is using.

Read more about this topic in:  List of sleep apnea causes

Obstructive sleep apnea causes: know them to manage better

A person suffering from obstructive sleep apnea would invariably have air pipe that is narrower than normal. Such narrowing of the air passage could be due to several factors like: over-relaxed throat and tongue muscles; enlarged tongue or tonsils; obesity; disproportionate head and neck size; advancing age, etc.

Here too, the obstructive sleep apnea causes are very similar to reasons why people snore.

Read more about it in: obstructive sleep apnea causes

What are the central apnea causes?

Central apnea causes can be related to a complete lack of coordination and communication between the brain and the breathing muscles. This results in the victim making no effort to breathe since the brain does not send out any signal to the relevant muscles. This type of sleep apnea is the usual fallout of cerebrovascular disease, heart ailments or any congenital disease.

Some leading illnesses that are closely associated with central sleep apnea include Bulbar poliomyelitis; complications arising from cervical spine surgery; encephalitis involving the brainstem; Parkinson’s disease; morbid obesity; primary hypoventilation syndrome, etc.

You can know more about this topic in: Central Sleep Apnea Causes

In summary, it is clear that causes of sleep apnea are varied but even then, the condition remains treatable, provided quick diagnosis followed by the right remedial measures are taken.