What Causes Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep to hit the reset button, both mentally and physically. Thanks to your obstructive sleep apnea, however, this reset is harder to come by for you and anyone who’s sleeping within earshot of you.

It might be of some comfort to know that this boat you’re in is a large one — nearly one billion people between the ages of 30 and 69 around the world have sleep apnea.

If sleep apnea is affecting your life and the lives of those around you, it’s a good idea to explore the causes of this common sleep issue. To that end, the extensive team of healthcare providers at Michigan Avenue Primary Care pulled together a few of the common culprits behind sleep apnea.

The basics of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) 

If you have obstructive sleep apnea, which accounts for most cases of sleep apnea, it means that soft tissues at the back of your throat collapse while you sleep and block your airways.

When this happens and you can’t breathe, your brain rouses you long enough to clear your airways so that you can breathe again. Were this to happen once or twice during the night, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

The reality is that most people with OSA experience breathing disturbances throughout the night, often dozens of times an hour. This constant cycle of your airways becoming blocked and then cleared is preventing you and others around you from getting enough restorative sleep.

While this can make you less energetic during the day, there are other complications of OSA, including:

• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Dry mouth
• Headaches

Included on this list is a heightened risk for cardiovascular disease, so we urge you to take sleep apnea very seriously.

The road to sleep apnea

Several factors place you more at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, including:

Overweight and obesity

One of the biggest risk factors for OSA is being overweight or obese, which affects nearly three-quarters of the population in the United States. When you carry excess fat, it can gather all over your body, including around your neck.

Hormone changes

Both men and women are more at risk for OSA if they experience changes in their reproductive hormones. For example, when women pass through menopause, they experience a precipitous drop in estrogen and progesterone hormones, and this loss can lead to more laxity in their tissues, including those in their throats.

Men who lose testosterone can also lose muscle mass, which can lead to tissue collapse in the back of the throat.

Aging

As you age, your tissues aren’t as taut, and this includes those in your throat. This is why the numbers surrounding OSA tend to increase with age.

Large tonsils

Another road to OSA is larger-than-normal tonsils. If you have overly large tonsils, they can become part of the soft tissues that collapse and block your airways while you sleep.

Breathing easier for better sleep

No matter how you came to have obstructive sleep apnea, the good news is that we have solutions. From continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to lifestyle changes, we will work with you until you, and everyone around you, can sleep soundly through the night.

For expert diagnosis and care of sleep apnea, look no further than Michigan Avenue Primary Care. To schedule an appointment with one of our sleep apnea specialists, simply contact us at our Chicago, Illinois, clinic, which is located in The Loop. You can also visit our urgent care center during operating hours, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm.