Central
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Central Sleep apnea is sometimes explained as the brain simply ‘forgetting’ to send a signal to the body to breathe. The reason for this forgetfulness has not really been established by the medical world but one school of thought suggests that the brain doesn’t send the signal intentionally, but sens the signal because the breathing system is out of balance.
High mountain climbers on occasion suffer an apnea condition known as the Cheyne-Stokes phenomenon caused by the low atmospheric pressure at high altitudes. The climber ever climbing into thinner air breathes harder and harder. Instead of taking in more oxygen he or she exhales more and more carbon-dioxide. In an effort to increase the carbon-dioxide levels and rectify the oxygen/carbon-dioxide balance the brain sends a signal to stop breathing, or more correctly doesn’t send a signal to keep breathing.
Cheyne-Stokes respiration is characterized by periods of deep quick breathing interspersed with periods of apnea (no breathing). It is also commonly occurs in patients with decompensated congestive heart failure where the treatment is normally nasal continuous air pressure.
It is thought that a similar situation may occur with heavy snorers who breathe very deeply causing the loud snoring noise but also reducing their carbon dioxide levels to central sleep apnea causing levels.
If this assumption is correct then a solution for cental sleep apnea would be to retrain the sufferer’s breathing patterns.
Standard medical treatment for Central Sleep Apnea depends on the individual and the underlying cause. The standard treatements are cpap or drugs that stimulate the need to breath. These are very individual solutions and need to be prescibed on patient by patient basis by a physician.