What Causes Sleep Apnea?

When a person has sleep apnea, they will stop breathing up to hundreds of times a night, interrupting vital sleep cycles. Oxygen saturations can drop to critical levels. Oxygen deprivation leads to cardiac issues and high blood pressure. Learning, memory and concentration are all adversely affected. Risk factors are factors that may lead up to and eventually result in the manifestation of sleep apnea. Causes are the reasons sleep apnea occurs. Many times risk factors and causes are synonymous.

There are several risk factors and causes associated with this disorder. Some reasons for the disorder are correctable. Causes, like the short circuit in central sleep apnea where the brain fails to tell the body to breathe, may need lifelong management. A sleep test will diagnose which type of sleep apnea a patient has and a thorough physical will reveal other possible causes. Then a doctor can discuss a proper treatment plan. This may include seeing an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, and/or a dentist.

Preventable risk factors include smoking, obesity, and alcohol or drug abuse. If a patient has one of these risk factors, they could possibly improve their sleep apnea or even stop their need for treatment by changing their lifestyle and personal habits. Patients should strive to lose weight, quit smoking, and refrain from alcohol and drug use before bed.

Smoking irritates the airway causing it to swell. Obesity contributes to extra fat being deposited in and around the throat and oral cavity. Alcohol or drug abuse causes the body to relax so completely that it loses muscle tone, causing the airway to collapse and the brain is in such an altered state that it cannot tell the body to tighten the airway muscles. Sleep apnea sufferers should never take sleep aids without consulting a doctor.

Some causes cannot be controlled. Causes such as anatomy, family history, aging, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, and being male all contribute to the condition. If your head and neck shape is stout and squat and if your mouth is smaller than normal, sleep apnea may occur. Since anatomy is hereditary, a family history is another risk factor a patient can't change. Aging brings on changes in the brain's signals which affect the throat muscles and waking habits. Enlarged tonsils, tongue, and adenoids can take up space and decrease the size of the airway. Although being male is considered "changeable" now, genetics still affect conditions, like sleep apnea, that are associated with male DNA.

One must consider underlying medical causes as a reason for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea could be a symptom instead of a primary disorder. Downs Syndrome, severe heartburn or GERD, vocal cord paralysis and other disorders are all primary conditions that can cause breathing cessation, obstructions in the airway or airway collapse. Careful and thorough management of the primary illness can reduce the severity of nighttime sleep-related apnea.

Important: The information presented on this page and other pages on this site is based upon the opinions of the author and on the author's interpretation of published reports and articles. It is not intended to replace your relationship with a qualified health care professional, and is not intended as medical advice.

The author encourages you to make your own health care decisions in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

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