I'm 70, don't have it but what causes it?
I do know several men my own age who have it and younger men too.
What was its genesis?
Overweight is one huge factor
Not all Sleep Apnea is caused by being overweight, but I think the vats majority is. The heavier you are, the more your weight can disrupt breathing during your sleep.
Holding tension in my throat and neck is my experience. Sometimes it’s not there and I can feel a big difference.
“What was its genesis?”
Just throwing it out there:
A lack of Fresh Air & Sunshine?
Being TRAPPED in an office environment all day?
‘Working For A Living’ without actually moving your feet?
First World Problems - at least. Don’t know what causes this problem for the other BILLIONS of people outside of our indulged society.
*SHRUG*
Weight. Not all, but a lot (I dare say most) of sleep apnea is weight related. Essentially the throat closes off because of the mass of the tongue and surrounding tissue overwhelms the involuntary muscles keeping the airway open. The O2 supply gets cut off and blood O2 plummets till the person wakes enough to gasp for air and the muscles re-tighten opening the airway until the next event.
Weight. Not all, but a lot (I dare say most) of sleep apnea is weight related. Essentially the throat closes off because of the mass of the tongue and surrounding tissue overwhelms the involuntary muscles keeping the airway open. The O2 supply gets cut off and blood O2 plummets till the person wakes enough to gasp for air and the muscles re-tighten opening the airway until the next event.
There are two types of sleep apnea with different root causes:
1. Obesity which causes “obstructive sleep apnea.” Your airway collapses when you are in certain sleeping positions, mainly on your back. It gets much worse they higher your BMI. Controlling your weight can largely control this. In some cases, surgery can be effective if you have certain anatomical abnormalities.
2. Central sleep apnea caused by the brain ceasing to tell the body to breathe. This is a more dangerous and difficult to treat form of sleep apnea. One type of Central sleep apnea is Cheyne-Stokes breathing which has alternate periods of no breathing (apnea) changing smoothly into periods of hyper-breathing, which smoothly change back to no-breathing. Cheyne-Stokes breathing is abnormal. It may occur during sleep or wakefulness. It is generally a sign of more advanced disease when it occurs during wakefulness. Because the brain controls breathing patterns, brain damage can result in central sleep apnea. This is the simplest cause to understand, but it occurs far less often than the most common cause. Heart failure is the most common cause of central sleep apnea. About 40% to 60% of persons with heart failure have central sleep apnea. Brain damage (ischemic stroke, full stroke) can also make you a lot more prone to central sleep apnea.
When you read old tales about something "stealing your breath" while you are asleep you are probably lookin at sleep apnea.
Sort of like having a stroke used to be called being elf shot.
Now it has probably gone up because of two things.
People are heavier then they used to be and people are now aware of what someone stopping breathing while they are asleep means and know what to do about it.
People used to just die and as long as no one murdered them, it was just their time to go.