If you have Mixed Sleep Apnoea, you repeatedly stop breathing in your sleep for short periods of time. Each apnoea is part central and part obstructive – it is a ‘mixture’ of both types.
A mixed apnoea starts as a central apnoea, where the muscles of your lungs fail to move and inflate them. This can lead to relaxation of your airway muscles. If you already have narrow airways they may close completely, resulting in an obstructive apnoea.
What starts as a central apnoea ends in an obstructive one.
Risk factors
Mixed Sleep Apnoea shares the risk factors of both Central and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.
For example, you might have heart failure, which puts you at risk of Central Sleep Apnoea. You may also be overweight or obese, which puts you at risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. The result is a combination of both types of apnoea.
Combination of apnoeas
If you have Mixed Sleep Apnoea, it is likely you will still have some purely obstructive or purely central apnoeas during sleep. However, most of your apnoeas will be a mixture of the two.
Central Sleep Apnoea
If you have Central Sleep Apnoea, you repeatedly stop breathing for short periods of time during your sleep.
There may be no signal from your brain to breathe, the signal may not be transmitted due to nerve damage, or the muscles of your lungs may not be able to work properly.
Either way, the muscles of your lungs fail to move and inflate them.
The end of each central apnoea results in an arousal, so that your brain can kick-start your lung muscles into working again.
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, you repeatedly stop breathing for short periods of time during your sleep. This is caused by your airways closing off, blocking the passage of air to your lungs.
It is called ‘Obstructive’ because the closed airway acts as a physical obstruction.
In response to the obstruction, your body makes increasingly forceful efforts to breathe before arousing with a big grunt, snort or gasp when the airways finally re-open.
What next?
Mixed sleep apnoea shares the symptoms, risk factors and complications of Obstructive and Central Sleep Apnoea.
If you are concerned about your symptoms it is important to seek medical advice. If you suspect you have sleep apnoea, you can also use our online symptoms checker to find out whether you are at risk.
To find out how to get tested for sleep apnoea, please explore our tests guide.
Central Sleep Apnoea
If you have Central Sleep Apnoea, you repeatedly stop breathing for short periods of time during your sleep.
There may be no signal from your brain to breathe, the signal may not be transmitted due to nerve damage, or the muscles of your lungs may not be able to work properly.
Either way, the muscles of your lungs fail to move and inflate them.
The end of each central apnoea results in an arousal, so that your brain can kick-start your lung muscles into working again.
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, you repeatedly stop breathing for short periods of time during your sleep. This is caused by your airways closing off, blocking the passage of air to your lungs.
It is called ‘Obstructive’ because the closed airway acts as a physical obstruction.
In response to the obstruction, your body makes increasingly forceful efforts to breathe before arousing with a big grunt, snort or gasp when the airways finally re-open.
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