The Cause of Sleep Apnea

Did your sleep doctor tell you the cause of sleep apnea? Did you figure it out yourself? Does it help you to know why you have sleep apnea?

Knowing the cause of sleep apnea is crucial for your life's quality. We should all know why we have sleep apnea. It will give us a better understanding of the disorder and a more realistic expectation of our treatment option.

And I'll give to you two examples:

• Some patients think I'm not using CPAP machine, I'll just lose weight, and I will be fine.

If their apnea is caused by a high arched soft palate and a wide tongue, weight loss - although healthy - probably will not impact their sleep apnea.




• Some patients rush to surgeries for a sleep apnea cure to keep from using CPAP.

  If the point of surgery does not correspond with your anatomical cause for sleep apnea, it may be an expensive and painful mistake.

Another thing to consider is that if you know the cause of sleep apnea, there may very well be treatment options other than CPAP. The point is that we should all learn why we have sleep apnea.

For most of patients with sleep apnea, it's a combination of anatomical factors that coupled together cause our airway to become blocked, resulting in cessation of breathing.

Over time and if left untreated, you can become high risk for heart attack and stroke.

So, here are just some examples of causes of sleep apnea from anatomical point of view:

• airway size
• enlarged tonsils or adenoids
• recessed lower jaw
• narrow jaw
• enlarged uvula
• wide, thick or long tongue
• deviated septum
• chronic nasal allergies
• elongated palate
• high arched palate
• excess airway tissue
• short thick neck
• obesity - if ones airway is already small, padding it with fat will further restrict the size of the airway making apnea worse.

Smoking will also further restrict the airway because it causes inflammation. Smoking is a choice we make and doing so can possibly make apnea worse.

If you know the cause of sleep apnea - it will be different for each of us - then I believe it will give you a better understanding of your condition.

Some anatomical obstructions may be surgically removed or trimmed, but may not necessarily cure sleep apnea if there are multiple reasons for obstruction.

How can you find the cause of sleep apnea, and esspecially for obstructive sleep apnea? Take a look in the mirror:

• observe your airway size - is it the size of a nickel? a quarter? bigger? Then consider how large your tonsils are. Note the size of your uvula, does it hang down really low, is it unusually thick or wide?


• Look at your tongue - is it wide, thick, long? Do you see tooth impressions that run along the side of your tongue? When at rest, does your tongue fall down into the bottom cavity of your lower jaw ( it should)...or does it lay on top of your bottom row of molars?


• Do you have a recessed jaw? Does the bottom jaw set back further than the top? Maybe easier thought of as an overbite?


• Close your left nostril and note how well you can breathe in and out of your right nostril. Now try the other side. Do you have a known deviated septum? Do you have chronic nasal allergies that cause congestion?

Chances are you have answered yes to two or three of these anatomical anomalies, and these would be the reason YOU have obstructive sleep apnea. Next time you see your sleep doctor, discuss this with him/her.

If you are realistic with yourself and know the cause of sleep apnea, then you will know if CPAP is your best answer. Any surgery is a risk, but some procedures may be helpful to you, even if they only make CPAP use easier and lessen CPAP pressures.

I hope now you understand why is so important to know the cause of sleep apnea. If you have huge tonsils and want to remove them, that would probably increase your airway size. However...if you also have a recessed jaw or an issue with your tongue, the tonsillectomy may not have much, if any, affect on your apnea condition.

You have to consider the whole picture.

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