Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea may sound to you like a challenging complaint but the simple description is an interruption in respiration during sleep. There are a varied number of sleep apneas in addition to other contributing factors that can result in a sudden ceasation in breathing while asleep. In order to shed some light on this sleep disorder it is essential to know the types, the indications and what you can do to handle your sleep issues.
The types of apnea directly related to sleep are as follows, mixed, complex, central and obstructive sleep apnea. Each of these types have their own unique set of symptoms and in general all of these types of sleep apnea cause breaks in a good night’s rest. This interruption in your brain-sleep cycle can cause a person to be unable to get a decent night’s sleep no matter how many hours of sleep they are actually getting.
Obstructive apnea is easily the most usual type found and is due to the throat muscles loosening up overmuch while sleeping. The throat closes and as result breathing is obstructive. This often happens during an upper respiratory infection and usually does not prove to be dangerous, however, to avoid further complications it must be taken care of expediently. Long term complications of obstructive sleep apnea include a category of coronary failure.
The condition of central sleep apnea is the consequence of a hitch in the nervous system and occurs when your nerves respond slowly to degrees of carbon dioxide and so it is not possible to maintain a level rate of respiration. This irregularity causes a hitching between pauses where breathing stops and races. Though this condition could cause the brain to be oxygen starved and potentially even cause some brain damage or death, this is rare.
It is conceivable that you could acquire obstructive and central apnea simultaneously as long as certain environmental factors occur that encourage both conditions to exist at the same time. A new type of apnea is complex, and it occurs when obstructive apnea is successfully treated but the central form endures.
All apnea treatment options demand plenty of airflow into the lungs at a constant rate. This pro-active idea makes certain that the symptoms of the troubled sleeper don’t injure the body further by allowing a nourishing flow of air into the lungs, however, this solution only helps in obstructive apnea cases. There is a popular dental medical procedure introduced as of late which seems to be getting great results.
Changing up the position in which you sleep seems to help more with central and mixed in addition to other treatment options, which include a number of surgical procedures designed to restore the shape of the airway and encourage more precious airflow to the lungs. This keeps harmful symptoms from occurring. After you diagnose the problem, it is easy to discover a mixture of complex and simple solutions that will give you immense and immediate relief.