Two Main Types of Sleep Apnea and How They're Treated

If you wake up feeling exhausted every morning, or if you struggle to stay awake during the day despite getting the recommended seven-plus hours of shut-eye each night, it may be time to schedule a comprehensive sleep apnea evaluation at Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in Allen, McKinney, and Plano, Texas. 

Sleep apnea affects millions of adults in the United States at any given time, and many people don’t know they’re living with the condition until it’s formally diagnosed. By determining which type of sleep apnea you have, we can develop a targeted treatment plan to correct the problem and protect your health. 

Read on as our seasoned team of board-certified pulmonologists and sleep medicine experts discuss the two main types of sleep apnea and how they’re treated. 

A short tutorial on sleep apnea 

Sleep apnea, or sleep-disordered breathing, is a chronic condition that causes repeated pauses in respiration as you sleep. Each time your brain registers low blood oxygen levels, it sends signals to stimulate respiration through a partial awakening, and in the process, disrupts your normal cycle of healthy, restful sleep. 

Sleep apnea which causes an average of 10 respiratory pause/partial awakening events per hour is considered the mildest form of the problem. By comparison, moderate sleep apnea triggers roughly twice as many awakenings per hour (an average of 20), and severe sleep apnea causes about three times as many partial awakening events (an average of at least 30) per hour. 

1. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

OSA is the most common form of sleep apnea. It occurs when there’s a functional obstruction of your airway, such as when your tongue falls against your soft palate, and your soft palate and uvula then fall against your throat. You try to breathe — but you can’t. 

Underlying cause

Essentially, OSA occurs when the muscles that support the soft tissues in your throat relax, allowing your tongue and soft palate to collapse into your airway and block your breathing. 

Anything that can narrow or relax your airway increases your chances of developing OSA; obesity and older age are the top two OSA risk factors. Other risk factors include:

• Drinking alcohol or smoking (tobacco use)
• Using sedatives to help you fall asleep 
• Having large tonsils or a thicker neck
• Hormonal problems (i.e., low thyroid levels)
• Having heart failure or high blood pressure

Men are up to three times more likely than women to develop OSA, but risk equalizes between genders when women are overweight or have gone through menopause. 

Treatment options

OSA treatment has one objective — to keep your airway open during sleep — and helps you achieve this goal through two key approaches:

Medical intervention

A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, which delivers pressurized air through a nasal mask to keep your airway open as you sleep, is often the go-to treatment for OSA. For those who can’t tolerate positive airway pressure, wearing a custom oral appliance that keeps your tongue from falling back against your soft palate can be helpful. 

 Surgery to correct structural issues and reshape your airway may be necessary in severe cases. 

Healthy lifestyle changes

If you’re overweight, losing as little as 10% of your body weight can go a long way in improving your OSA condition. Getting more exercise, managing chronic health conditions, quitting smoking, abstaining from alcohol, and sleeping on your side can also make a big difference. 

2. Central sleep apnea (CSA) 

CSA, which is far less common than OSA, occurs when there’s a neurological obstruction of your airway. Put another way, CSA begins with a problem in your brain. 

As your body’s command-and-control center, your brain manages every breath you take. CSA occurs when your brain fails to send signals to keep your airway muscles working, causing your respiration to pause or become shallow. There isn’t a physical obstruction, instead, your body simply stops trying to breathe. 

​​Underlying cause

CSA can be caused by various conditions that affect your brain stem, or the area of your brain that controls breathing. CSA may develop because of congestive heart failure or stroke, or it may be a side effect of taking certain medications, such as opioid pain relievers. 

CSA can also emerge with altitude-induced low blood oxygen levels, or at the start of treatment for OSA, as a temporary side effect of CPAP therapy. 

Treatment options

The goal of CSA treatment is to help you maintain normal respiration when you sleep. As with OSA, our approach is two-fold:

Addressing core issues 

If your CSA is clearly associated with a problem like unmanaged heart failure or opioid use, treating your underlying health condition or reducing your medication dosage over time is the first step in improving your sleep apnea. 

Medical intervention

CPAP devices are also helpful in treating CSA, but specialized positive airway pressure modes may be necessary in some cases. Bilevel-positive airway pressure is another helpful option. This device delivers breaths (i.e., pressurized air) when you stop breathing.

If you can’t tolerate positive airway pressure devices, drug therapy may be a better option. In people with CSA, prescription medications like acetazolamide help stimulate normal breathing. 

Take control of your sleep apnea today

Luckily, sleep apnea is highly treatable, and it all starts with an expert evaluation, an overnight sleep study, and an accurate diagnosis. Get started now by filling out our online sleep apnea questionnaire. 

If you’re concerned about sleep apnea, call or click online to schedule an appointment at your nearest Fivestar Pulmonary Associates office today.