Is sleep apnea a genetic condition?
Among the various health problems that have made life difficult for people, sleep disorders are a leading cause. They interrupt your peaceful sleep at night and render you unable to smoothly carry out your functions the next day. Sleep apnea is one such sleep disorder. In this condition, your breathing briefly stops that alerts your brain to wake you up from your slumber. Mainly sleep apnea is of three types, central, mixed, and obstructive sleep apnea. Let’s learn more about two of them, including central and obstructive sleep apnea and their causes, in our following sections.
What is central sleep apnea?
Central sleep apnea is a disorder where your brain fails to signal your muscles responsible for controlling your breathing to stretch and relax. Because of this lack of communication, you fail to inhale and exhale air, and your breathing stops temporarily. The risk factors associated with this type of sleep apnea include aging, being male, using opioids, having a stroke in the past, and suffering from congestive heart failure.
How to treat CSA?
Treatment for central sleep apnea involves treating the existing conditions using supplemental oxygen.
Is central sleep apnea hereditary?
Some risk factors for central sleep apnea, like heart problems, may have a genetic component. However, most of the reasons are not related to genes. Also, based on the studies conducted, no solid evidence has been found that suggests that central sleep apnea is a hereditary condition.
What is obstructive sleep apnea?
The most common type of sleep apnea, OSA, refers to a condition where the muscles located at the back of your throat over-relax, which causes your throat to partially or completely relax. Because of this, your experience difficulty in breathing. The risk factors linked with this type of sleep apnea include obesity, family history, ageing, having large tonsils, nasal congestion, smoking, menopause, and consuming alcohol.
How to treat OSA?
For improving sleep apnea, CPAP, oral appliances, surgery, and lifestyle changes are some possible treatments.
Is obstructive sleep apnea heredity?
One of the risk factors for OSA is family history. Also, research suggests that 40% of cases of this disorder can be attributed to genetics, while the other 60% are environmental-related. So, the more obstructive sleep apnea relatives you have, the higher is your risk of developing this problem. With that said, it is vital to note down here that scientists have not yet discovered the specific genes that are responsible for this condition.
So, from the above discussion, we can conclude that central sleep apnea is not hereditary, but obstructive sleep apnea is genetic and can pass on from generation to generation.
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