Is there sleep apnea without snoring?

The media has often correlated sleep apnea and the humming. If the association between these two points is explained by the obstructive nature of the ronchopathy, preventing the fluid circulation of air, it is not automatic.

It would therefore be a serious mistake to assume that the absence of snoring would induce the absence of apnea.

There is thus a form of sleep apnea that the absence of snoring cannot detect. This is central sleep apnea (CSA).

Sleep apnea without snoring, how is that possible?

Sleep apnea is the absence of breathing for a period of at least ten seconds. If the obstruction of the airways during snoring can be the cause, it can also find its origin in central sleep apnea.

What is ACS ? It is a stoppage of breathing that comes from a problem in the transmission of the respiratory message from the brain and the central nervous system.

So it is not a mechanical blockage that prevents the arrival of air in the lungs, but a neurological problem.

It should be remembered, however, that this form of sleep apnea represents only a small proportion of all apneas occurring at night.

What is the origin of this particular form of apnea?

Several sources of central sleep apneacan be listed.

First of all, external elements can explain the ACS. When you go up in altitude, beyond 3000 or 4000 meters above sea level, the oxygen in the air becomes scarce, and the brain, subject to this lack, can cause a lack of breathing. This apnea is therefore not particularly serious and simply requires reoxygenation or a return to more moderate altitudes.

Other sources external to this apnea include taking certain drugs, such as opioid pain medications or narcotics. Their effects on the nervous system can therefore induce ACS. Stopping the intake of these products may prove to be sufficient to stop the cessation of breathing.

There are also ACS whose origin is found in the health conditions of the person suffering from it.

In a number of cases, there is a link betweenobstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and its central form. Indeed, OSA can lead to cardiovascular complications, and generate strokes (cerebrovascular accidents), one of the effects of which is the formation of neurological disorders inducing central apnea.

So we understand the link between neurological problems and ACS. This therefore means that a set of manifestations of neurological pathologies can result in apnea during sleep.Cheyne's breathing -Stokes syndrome (RCS), which is seen in individuals with heart problems, is one of the most common causes. With RCS, moments of apnea and hyperpnea alternate.

However, other reasons may explain the ACS. After a stroke, the onset of central sleep apnea may unfold. This kind of situation including a problem related to the brain can be recurrent? All the pathologies associated with the nervous system can therefore explain this type of apnea. A neoplastic myelination lesion, the presence of a brain tumor, a viral attack on the brain, or an immune disease leading to encephalitis or brainstem infarction can also cause central sleep apnea.< /b>