Are You at Risk for Sleep Apnea?

Are you at risk of developing sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is the most common sleep disorder, and if you don’t get the treatment you need, the effects of sleep apnea on your health could be detrimental. Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea aren’t always easy to spot, especially because the most obvious signs are likely to occur when you are actually asleep. That’s why, if you are at risk for sleep apnea, you need to know about it. The following is a list of the common risk factors for developing sleep apnea:

#1. Obesity

Obesity is the most likely indicator of sleep apnea, because people who are obese have a risk of developing sleep apnea that is seven times greater than people who aren’t obese. Obstructive sleep apnea is basically a blockage in your upper airway, usually caused by the tissue between your noise and voice box collapsing and cutting off the passage of oxygen. When you are carrying around excess weight, it can add pressure on the tissue and make the airway even smaller.

#2. Age

People of all ages can develop sleep apnea, even children, but the condition is much more common in older people. This is because the elasticity and tone of the tissues in the throat start to wear down over time. This increases the chance that the tissue will collapse, blocking the airways.

#3. Neck Circumference

Women with neck circumferences greater than 15 inches and men with neck circumferences greater than 17 inches have a much higher risk of developing sleep apnea. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be obese or even overweight to have a large neck circumference. Think about professional athletes, for example. They aren’t overweight, but their muscle development has led to larger necks.

#4. Alcohol Use

Many people drink alcohol because they believe that it will help them sleep better at night, but this is just a myth, and it’s past time that we stop believing it. Since alcohol is a muscle relaxant, it can actually cause episodes of sleep apnea if you consume it too close to going to bed. Not only does it increase your risk of sleep apnea, studies have shown that it also lengthens the duration of sleep apnea episodes.

#5. Gender

By simply being a man, your risk of developing sleep apnea increases. In fact, if you compared a middle-aged man and woman, the man is twice as likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea than the woman. Men can blame anatomical differences, particularly size, for the increased risk of sleep apnea.

#6. Family History

If you have a high risk of sleep apnea, it’s possible that your genetic makeup is to blame. Sleep apnea isn’t passed down through families like cancer or heart disease is. Your physical makeup, which you inherit from your family, is actually what causes sleep apnea to plague entire families.

#7. Smoking

Looking for another reason to quit smoking? If you are a current smoker, your chance of developing sleep apnea is two and half times higher than nonsmokers. That’s because smoke is an irritant, and it can cause the tissue in your airway to swell, reducing the airflow.

As you can see, there are some risk factors that you can control, while others are completely out of your hands. Luckily, if you develop sleep apnea, there are many effective treatment methods at your disposal, including CPAP and BIPAP therapy. Here at CPAP Liquidators, we make it easy to get the sleep apnea therapy you need with our wide selection of new and used BIPAP and CPAP machines. Talk to your doctor right away if you think that you might be in need of sleep apnea therapy.