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I have obstructive and mixed apnoeas and I’m totally confused! What is the difference between them?
Question:
What are the different types of sleep apnoea?
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There are three main types of sleep apnoea; obstructive, central and mixed.
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea occurs when your airways close off, blocking the passage of air to your lungs. In response to the obstruction your body makes increasingly forceful efforts to breathe before arousing with a grunt when your airways finally reopen.
Central Sleep Apnoea occurs when the signal to breathe is missing or faulty, or the muscles of your lungs are physically unable to move your chest. Your lungs fail to inflate until you arouse and your lung muscles are kick-started into action.
Mixed sleep apnoea begins as a central apnoea and ends as an obstructive one – it is a ‘mixture’ of both types.