How Common Is Sleep Apnea?

How common is sleep apnea? Well, it depends at least partially on other factors regarding your health, particularly how much you weigh. Yet sleep apnea is not an incredibly common sleep disorder.

The question of how common is sleep apnea is a little bit difficult to answer, because not everyone who has sleep apnea realizes that they do or is being treated for it. It's not like a disease such as AIDs or cancer where many people who have the condition are aware that something is wrong and have visited a doctor to discuss their symptoms and prognosis.

Sleep apnea statistics are not as easy to record then, since doctors are certainly not aware of all of the possible cases of sleep apnea that are out there. However, it has been estimated that about 18 million Americans are suffering from some level of sleep apnea.

What Is Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a condition where you literally stop breathing in your sleep. Maybe it does not seem that serious to you, since it is technically either a pause in or a reduction of sleeping during the night. However, what if you never start breathing again?

When the apnea occurs, the person is usually disrupted because for that short time period, oxygen levels in the blood decrease and the normal breathing process is obviously disturbed. Sometimes the person will completely wake up from his or her sleep, and sometimes the person will go from a deep level of sleep into a more shallow level of sleep. In either case, the normal sleeping pattern for that individual has been broken.

Who Gets Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is not really a condition that many children have. However, it can absolutely occur in children, although it typically does occur in adults. Before the age of 50, men are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea than women are. However, after 50 years of age, the odds of suffering from the problem are the same for both men and women. Obesity is a major contributing factor to sleep apnea, and 70 percent of obese individuals in a study suffered from one of the two forms of sleep apnea.

Treatment Of Sleep Apnea

If you feel that you are not getting enough rest or someone who sleeps with you notices that you seem to stop breathing while you are sleep, you need to go to a doctor right away. Even if you have a slight suspiscion that you might have sleep apnea, you should still go and get it checked out.

Some of the ways in which sleep apnea is treated are through continuous positive airway pressure, dental appliances to wear at night, behavorial changes (such as diet and exercise) and medication. Surgery is another possible option; however, there are some serious risks associated with this type of surgery, including but NOT limited to:

• pain
• bleeding
• infection
• scar tissue
• problems with swallowing
• loss of voice
• failure to prevent sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a dangerous sleep disorder if untreated. Be sure to seek the advice and treatment of a professional if you feel you or your sleep partner may have the signs of sleep apnea.