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I’ve been told I am having both central and obstructive apnoeas and I don’t know the difference between the two.
I’ve been told I am having both central and obstructive apnoeas and I don’t know the difference between the two.
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An apnoea is a pause in your breathing which lasts for at least 10 seconds during sleep. Apnoeas can be obstructive or central, and the cause and nature of the apnoeas are different for each type:
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea occurs when your airways close 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.
In contrast, Central Sleep Apnoea occurs when the muscles of the lungs fail to move and inflate them. There is no obstruction in your airways and no forceful efforts to breathe; your chest just stops moving.
Obstructive and central apnoeas end with an arousal. An arousal happens when you either wake up completely or change from deep sleep to light sleep. Your body does this instinctively to kick-start your breathing response.
The arousal is often slightly different between the two types of apnoea. An arousal after an obstructive apnoea may involve a snort, gasp or grunt and can at times seem quite violent. An arousal from a central apnoea may be less noisy and vigorous, although just as disruptive to sleep.