It Happened to Carrie Fisher. How Possible Is It to Die from Sleep Apnea?

Look at sleep apnea closer; it is a cessation of breathing that happens while you sleep. Three types of sleep apnea are listed, and these include obstructive, central and mixed. Obstructive sleep apnea or OSA is the most common, and it means you stop repeatedly breathing during sleep. It is probable that you stop breathing hundreds of times throughout the night and often for a minute or so, and since you are unaware of these pauses in breathing, you seldom wake up.

Obstructive sleep causes blockage of your air passages, and soft tissues in the rear of your throat collapse during sleep. Central sleep apnea indicates that the brain is unable to signal your muscles to breathe, and mixed sleep apnea is a mixture of central and obstructive sleep apnea.  Whatever type of apnea you have, interrupted sleep causes your rest to be fragmented and inadequate.