The Causes of Sleep Apnea

The basics behind sleep apnea state that you are having problems with an obstructed airway, which causes you to stop breathing in the middle of the night. When this happens, you wake up, gasping for breath, and make yourself begin to breathe again. These factors can wreck havoc on your life, and can cause you to have many different problems.

There are several things that are counted as risk factors which can make you be predisposed to suffering from an obstructed airway, causing sleep apnea to occur. If you have several of these risk factors, it is a good idea to consult a doctor in order to be diagnosed with sleep apnea, if you haven't been sleeping well.

Risk Factors

One of the major risk factors for sleep apnea is if you are obese or if you have excessive fat in the neck or throat area. You should know, however, that almost half of the sleep apnea cases are in people who are not obese.

Your age plays a big part in it. Most cases of sleep apnea are present all through your life, but become prominent in your late teens and early twenties. The older you get, the worse the condition gets. If you have been sleeping poorly for years, it might be sleep apnea, and it might be that it is not going to get any better, simply worse. If you haven't been sleeping well for years, and you don't think you are going to start sleeping any better, you should seek a diagnoses and treatment for sleep apnea.

Men are more at risk for sleep apnea than women are. In general, more cases of sleep apnea are found in men. Another important factor in who gets sleep apnea is an irregular schedule. By sleeping and strange and unusual times, and by not sleeping at the same time every night, you are allowing yourself to be more at risk for sleep apnea. Those that sleep irregular hours are more often found to have sleep apnea. This might include people who find themselves having sleep disruptions from the days that they work versus the days that they do not work. It might also be that a snoring bed partner is making a person have irregular sleep patterns. If there is a new baby, or if you are aggravated about something that has happened that day, you might also see signs of sleep apnea.

Also, the people who don't follow the natural preference for sleeping at night and being awake in the day are more at risk for sleep apnea than those that sleep at night and wake in the morning. If you use a lot of caffeine or have irregular amounts of sleep on different nights, these are all factors in how susceptible you are to having signs of sleep apnea.

Also, there are anatomical anomalies that some people have, which might narrow their airways and lead to sleep apnea. These included a deviated septum, a receding chin line, or an enlarged tongue.

Snoring is another factor that might lead to sleep apnea. It is also a result of sleep apnea. This is because the vibrations that are repeated on the soft palate during the time that you are snoring can cause the soft palate to become longer, and this can obstruct the airway.

Some other things that might put a person at risk for sleep apnea include enlarged tonsils or adenoids. These are especially seen as causes for sleep apnea in children. If you use alcohol or sedatives before bedtime, you are going to be more at risk for sleep apnea. It also happens that those that smoke, or are exposed to second hand smoke, will be more at risk for sleep apnea or other related symptoms.

There are some factors that might cause your sleep apnea to be more apparent on different days or different nights. For instance, when you have nasal congestion, or a nasal blockage, or if you are irritated by something that is going on in the room, you are going to be more likely to see symptoms of your sleep apnea that are happening during the period you should be sleeping.

It should not be overlooked that a person who has a family history of sleep apnea is going to be at higher risk for sleep apnea. There hasn't been a specific genetic marker that has been discovered for sleep apnea, but it does seem to be something that runs in families. It might be that this is a result of facial or neck characteristics, or perhaps it is that there are anatomic abnormalities that are being passed along to different generations.

There are a few other disorders that you might have which might contribute to your sleep apnea, so if you have them, be ware. They include hypothyroidism, acromegaly, amyloidosis, paralysis of the vocal chord, neuromuscular disorders, post-polio syndrome, Down Syndrome, or Marfan's syndrome. All of these disorders might be devastating enough on their own, but they also might put a person at a higher risk for sleep apnea, which causes many problems to occur.

There are some other conditions that are often seen in conjunction with sleep apnea, but it is not clear if these conditions are things that result because of the sleep apnea, or if they are part of the cause for sleep apnea. These include immune system abnormities, and severe heartburn or acid reflux, as well as high blood pressure.

If you have several of the causes of sleep apnea, or if you have some of the risk factors for sleep apnea and you find that you are not getting the correct amount of sleep, you should see your doctor, who can determine whether or not you have sleep apnea.