Sleep Apnea Causes & Risk Factors

What Are the Causes?

When a person is awake, the throat muscles keep the airway open, and air can flow freely into the lungs. When a person is asleep, the throat muscles relax. For most people, the airway remains open so that air can continue to flow freely. For people with sleep apnea, the airways can become blocked or constricted. The throat muscles and tongue might be relaxed more than normal, and the tongue and tonsils might be enlarged. If you're overweight, your excess fatty tissue can cause the windpipe wall to become thicker. The shape of your head and neck can also cause the airway to be abnormally small. As you age, the brain signals that control your throat muscles might become weak.

As a result of these causes, people experience reduced air flow to the lungs. When the airways are fully or partially blocked, a drop in blood oxygen levels can result, and snoring, choking, or snorting can occur.

The drops in oxygen levels and lowered quality of sleep can raise stress hormone levels, putting people at risk for hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and heart palpitations.

Who's at Risk?

People who are overweight are at high risk for developing sleep apnea since excess fat can cause the windpipe to become more constricted. People with allergies may develop enlarged or irritated tonsils that can cause blockages to the windpipe opening.

People who are aging are at risk for developing sleep apnea. As you grow older, the brain signals that keep the throat muscles stiff can weaken, especially during sleep. As a result of these weakened brain signals, the throat muscles will relax, causing the windpipe to become constricted.

Sleep apnea can cause complications for people with preexisting heart problems or hypertension. When oxygen levels drop and sleep patterns are disrupted, complications such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, and heart palpitations can occur. People with a predisposition to heart failure may experience complications.

People with a family history of sleep apnea are likely to develop sleep apnea. It is important to keep track of who in your family has developed sleep apnea and why.

If you have sleep apnea and you remain undiagnosed and untreated, you are likely to develop severe complications, especially if your sleep apnea has gone undiagnosed for an extended period of time. When sleep apnea is untreated, your body is unable to use energy efficiently, putting you at risk for problems such as obesity.