Sleep disorders are a complex series of conditions that are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Breathing-related sleep disorders are one of the major types of "primary sleep disorders." Sleeping disorders that are related to breathing are classified as dyssomnias, which means that there are abnormalities with the quantity, quality and the intrinsic timing of sleep.
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People with breathing-related sleeping disorders often report having difficulty falling asleep or by not feeling "rested" after sleep.
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Most breathing-related sleep disorders are caused by the patients having difficulty breathing while asleep, which causes them to wake up in the night, though they may not remember doing so.
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The most common breathing-related sleep disorder is obstructive sleep apnea and is caused by people having narrowed breathing passages. It is especially common with overweight people.
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Central sleep apnea is due to another condition, usually either cardiac or neurological, which causes the airways to be abnormally narrow.
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Another breathing-related sleep disorder is central alveolar hypoventilation, in which patients suffer from low oxygen in their arterial blood.
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