Causes of Sleep Apnea: All you should know.

Causes of Sleep Apnea.

Sleep Apnea is now  wide spread in the United States. Statistics show that 1400 traffic deaths each year is because of drivers suffering from Sleep Apnea.

It is believed that 3% of Americans suffer from it and there are 40 million undiagnosed Americans suffering from sleep apnea. In America  about 1 in 50 or 2.00% or 5.4 million people have the disease and have not been diagnosed. But what causes sleep apnea? Can it be avoided?

Sleep Apnea occurs when the airways collapse and breathing becomes almost impossible. The patient misses breath cycles for seconds or even minutes. In a healthy patient air passes through the nose and into the lungs. The air goes through the palate, uvula, and tongue base and through the throat muscles. There are several  causes of sleep apnea . The patient might have a deviated septum; the septum is the middle wall of the nose. The septum can be deviated to one side or both sides, there by obstructing the flow of air. Also there are filters in the nose called turbinates, if they become injured and swollen they can affect the flow of air into the lungs.

Another cause of sleep apnea is that there a piece of  flesh that hangs at the back of the throat called palate and uvula, if they are too long they can fall backwards and obstruct breathing. Also when one lies on his back the tongue can fall backwards and obstruct the flow of air. In obese and older people the muscles of the neck might collapse and cause blockage of air into the lungs. Apart from the physical causes of sleep apnea stated above, there are other reasons an individual may develop sleep apnea.

• GERD also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease can also cause sleep apnea. GERD has to do with acid reflux. Stomach acid finds its way into the esophagus and damages esophageal tissue his can cause serious barriers in the throat and cause sleep apnea.
• Asthma causes spasm in the airways and could cause the air way to collapse during sleep
• Allergies can also cause inflammation and congestion in the throat and increase the risk of sleep apnea.
• The Central Nervous System of an individual can go wrong  and can become on of the causes of sleep apnea. Though this is rare it is called Central Sleep Apnea. In central sleep apnea, the signals from the brain to the throat are scrambled and therefore the throat stays closed when it is supposed to be open he difference between obstructive sleep apnea and Central Sleep Apnea is that OSA has to do with blockage that comes from physical factors such as a big tongue or soft muscles or Asthma. But in the brain cannot send signals to the throat area to tell it when to close up or open.
• They physical build of a person’s throat can increase the likely hood of getting sleep apnea. People with small windpipes have a higher risk of sleep apnea.
• A person’s lifestyle can affect them and cause sleep apnea. Take smokers for example, smoking irritates the throat and can cause airway spasms and closure of the throat.
• Nasal Congestion is also one of the causes of sleep apnea. When the nostrils are blocked, the patient cannot breathe, this could be a result of cold, sinusitis, allergies, smoking, and so on.

Other Medical conditions that can cause sleep apnea include:

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 3
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 6
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 7
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 8
• Arnold-Chiari malformation type 2
• Metabolic Syndrome
• Insomnia with sleep apnea
• Joubert Syndrome
• Mucopolysaccharidosis type I Hurler syndrome
• Glycogen storage disease type 2
• Glaucoma - sleep apnea
• Chromosome 17, trisomy 17p11.2
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Type 1A
• Glycogenosis type 2
• Marfan syndrome

All these factors can cause frequent drops in the oxygen levels and carbon dioxide builds up and the heart swells. This could lead to a heart attack or stroke and imminent death. To find out about sleep apnea treatment click here.

Sleeping Disorders Homepage.