5 Things that Increase Your Risk for Sleep Apnea

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Sleep apnea is more than just annoying snoring. It’s a condition in which your breathing is disrupted while you sleep. Your brain, in an effort to keep you alive, never quite lets you settle into the deep sleep you need because it needs to make you roll over or change positions to reopen your airway. So you wake up feeling tired, even after 8 hours. The following 5 risk factors can increase your chances of suffering from sleep apnea:

1. Heart and Cardiovascular Problems

Poor cardiovascular health, heart disease, and high blood pressure can all lead to inflammation or fluid buildup in the airway, which can cause obstructive sleep apnea. Frighteningly, the heart disease-sleep apnea link is a vicious cycle too: sleep apnea can increase your chances of cardiovascular problems, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

2. Diabetes

Diabetes is another risk factor for sleep apnea that also fits into this “vicious cycle” model; sleep apnea can make diabetes worse, too. About 70% of people with a diabetes diagnosis also have some form of sleep apnea.

3. Asthma and Allergies

Allergies can make breathing hard anyway, even when you’re awake, and nasal congestion can aggravate nighttime breathing problems, as can asthma. In fact, just under half of people with an asthma diagnosis seem to develop sleep apnea too.

4. Anatomical Factors

Several anatomical features of the neck and mouth can also increase the risk of sleep apnea, including:

  • A large neck
  • A narrow palate
  • Crowded teeth
  • A large tongue
  • Excess bone (tori)
  • Large tonsils

5. Obesity

Being obese or overweight can cause fat deposits to gather in the neck, which can increase the likelihood of interrupting airflow while sleeping.

Additional Sleep Apnea Risk Factors

While these are some of the main risk factors involved in developing sleep apnea, many other conditions can increase the risk as well, including:

  • Age (Fat deposits in the neck can increase with age.)
  • Hormones (Certain hormone imbalances can also worsen sleep apnea.)
  • Genetic factors (People with a family history of sleep apnea have an increased risk.)
  • Lifestyle factors (Smoking and alcohol consumption can increase sleep apnea risks.)

Sleep Apnea Treatment in Hoover, AL

Regardless of any other health conditions, anyone can suffer from sleep apnea. If you struggle to feel rested after a full night’s sleep, your partner complains of your snoring, or you wake up with headaches, schedule an appointment with your Hoover, AL dentist and sleep apnea expert at Alabama Dental Sleep and Wellness for an evaluation.