There are different types of sleep apnea conditions: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), and Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS). Dr. Abramson treats patients in from San Francisco, San Jose down to Monterey Pennisula who suffer from either OSA or CSA.
These conditions share many common features, but have important differences that result in different approaches to treatment. Sleep Apnea dentist
Other breathing disturbances also contribute to sleep disordered breathing. One is a hypopnea , which is a partial obstruction of the airway causing a drop in the body’s oxygen level. The other is a RERA (respiratory effort related arousal) which is also a partial obstruction in airflow associated with a sleep arousal but without a significant drop in oxygen. If RERA’s are the main cause of the sleep disorder, this defines Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome .
Any of these types of apneas or respiratory events can be present in each of the three sleep apnea syndromes. It is the predominant type of event that defines which of the three sleep conditions you have.