What’s behind the pauses that characterize sleep apnea?

What’s behind the pauses that characterize sleep apnea?

Most people with this common, chronic condition suffer sleep disruption three or more nights a week, which in turn causes daytime tiredness. 

The most common form of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea, in which the airway collapses or becomes blocked during sleep. When a person tries to breathe, air that forces its way past the blockage can cause loud snoring.  

Reasons for Airway Blockage

There are a number of reasons why airways can become narrow or blocked in people with obstructive sleep apnea, including:  

• Throat muscles and the tongue relax more than normal.
• The tongue and tonsils are large compared with the opening into the windpipe.
• Extra soft fat tissue in overweight people can thicken the wall of the windpipe, causing the inside to narrow and making it harder to keep open.
• The shape of the head and neck, its bony structure, may cause a smaller airway size in the mouth and throat area.
• Aging may limit the ability of the throat muscles to remain stiff during sleep, increasing the likelihood that the airway will narrow or collapse.

 
More than half of the 12 million American adults with obstructive sleep apnea are overweight. Men are more likely to have sleep apnea, which affects one of every 25 middle-aged men and one of 50 middle-aged women. 

Growing older is a risk factor, too. At least 10 percent of Americans older than 65 have sleep apnea. It is much more likely to develop in women after menopause. Sleep apnea is also more common among blacks, Hispanics and Pacific Islanders than among whites, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. 

Other things that increase the likelihood of sleep apnea are family history, smoking, high blood pressure and risk factors for heart failure and stroke.