Sleep Apnea

Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder where one stops breathing continuously for 10 seconds or more during sleep. It can be cause by many factors. Generally, it is categorized into the following two according to the cause:

a.) Obstructive Sleep Apnea
     - Caused by blockage/occlusion in the upper airway. Mostly due to structural problem (i.e. big tonsils, weak muscle tone, etc.)

b.) Central Sleep Apnea
     - Mostly linked with neurological disorder. Means the body actually doesn't receive signal from the brain to breath. It 'forgets' to breath during sleep.

I've read an article that says that there is a new category of Sleep Apnea called the "Mixed Sleep Apnea" which, as the name would have suggested, is actually caused by a mixture of the abovementioned two category. Normally the person will have a blockage in the airway and then the brain will 'forget' to send out signal for the body to breath.