What causes obstructive sleep apnea?
The exact cause of OSA remains unclear. Generally, sleep apnea happens when enough air cannot move into your lungs while you are sleeping. When you are awake, and normally during sleep, your throat muscles keep your throat open so that air can flow into your lungs. However, with obstructive sleep apnea, the throat briefly collapses, causing pauses in your breathing. With pauses in breathing, your oxygen level in your blood may drop. Ingestion of alcohol and sleeping pills may increase the frequency and duration of breathing pauses in people with sleep apnea.
