Sleep Apnea - On The Rise?

[jyl]

I found out that two of my friends have sleep apnea. My neighbor sleeps with a C-pap machine. My brother in law has one. So do his daughters. Ever since I started paying attention, it seems like sleep apnea is all over the place.

Is this condition on the rise, or simply better-diagnosed, or am I just noticing it now?

[trekkor]

I know many people that are on the machine.


KT

[A930Rocket]

As we get older and fatter, we are more inclined to have sleep apnea.

[JavaBrewer]

I am old and sorta fat. Not on the machine yet but 2 in my family are. Since starting they have looked incredibly rested. I think there is a more difficult solution that does not involve the borg.

[Tobra]

I would say all of the above

I think we are better at diagnosing, and the average person in this country is getting more likely to need one. People are getting older and fatter. Fat old people use CPAPs.

[look 171]

I snore like crazy and my wife thinks I have it. After talking to my doctor and my E and T, they both do not think I have sleep apnea. I wonder if people notice if they wake up from it in the middle of the night? I think, or believe I sleep like baby all the way through. A friend's been on the CPAP for a few years, and swears by it. He's even afraid to go to our annual camping trip due to the lack of electric to run the machine.

[mjohnson]

More and more of us are fatter and fatter, and word is getting out (1) how bad sleep apnea is for your health and your life and (2) how much better life is once it's under control. Three coworkers swear up and down that cpap is a miracle.

My father suffers from sleep apnea and has had some "attraction getting" results from a sleep study yet he refuses the cpap. Stubborn guy, he ignores his peers and his kids' encouragement to get with the program. It'll probably speed his demise...

I'm still slim-ish but snore like a second in a comedy movie. Sleep great and wake rested and early so I'm probably not suffering (too much) from sleep apnea. If it ever gets to be a problem - I'm strapping on a mask.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by mjohnson

More and more of us are fatter and fatter, and word is getting out (1) how bad sleep apnea is for your health and your life and (2) how much better life is once it's under control. Three coworkers swear up and down that cpap is a miracle.

My father suffers from sleep apnea and has had some "attraction getting" results from a sleep study yet he refuses the cpap. Stubborn guy, he ignores his peers and his kids' encouragement to get with the program. It'll probably speed his demise...

I'm still slim-ish but snore like a second in a comedy movie. Sleep great and wake rested and early so I'm probably not suffering (too much) from sleep apnea. If it ever gets to be a problem - I'm strapping on a mask.

Sadly, a machine seems an easier solution than addressing the real issue- being fat.

[LakeCleElum]

I've been on a Cpap about 6 years. I think more people are aware and it's more like to be diagnosed and prescribed......Since I lost a lot of weight, my Doc sez I can get off it, but I'd rather use the machine.

When I started, my insurance said they would just rent the machine for the first few months until I proved I was using it.....Over 40% that try it can't get used to the thing. The pump has an SD card that tracks your usage and how you are breathing....

[cantdrv55]

I don't think being fat or old are the only causes of sleep apnea, making a CPAP machine a necessity. If we didn't elect to have my son's tonsils and adenoids removed, he would've been a candidate for the machine.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by stuartj

Sadly, a machine seems an easier solution than addressing the real issue- being fat.

actually, the real issue is jaw and airway, etc. structure, which is genetic

obesity is a contributing factor

better diagnostic capability and ability to actually treat it (without breaking the jaw and resetting it) are the drivers behind it, plus understanding that many, many industrial and driving accidents are caused by it

[snbush67]

Originally Posted by stuartj

Sadly, a machine seems an easier solution than addressing the real issue- being fat.

Any sleep problems can contribute to heart disease, high cholesterol, stress and even mental conditions. As well, poor sleep can contribute to depression, in turn lack of exercise and poor diet choices.

So although the machine may not be the solution to being fat, it is a great place to start.

There are many people who go undiagnosed. Many people with sleep apnea simply resort to sleeping on their backs or sides which mitigates the potential for apnea to occur in some.

I have been diagnosed with significant sleep apnea but am unable to use the machine. I was hit by a car recently and my eye and nasal orbital bones are messed up. The mask is to painful to wear, but when I am going to try a different mask from a recent sleep study that seemed to work.

[KNS]

My father in law has had it for years (he's not fat). He only recently started using a CPAP machine but should have been using one years ago. Just recently he was unable to use his machine for a month or so (broken, I think) and it really did a number on his lungs and heart. He's probably taken years off his life because of it.

[wdfifteen]

I read that weight and age are contributing factors, but they aren't the only factors. A friend of mine played football for Ohio State. He got his head broke and has had trouble breathing ever since. He had one of the first machines available, many years ago.

[recycled sixtie]

Good thread.I went and had a sleep study done on myself about 5 years ago. Dr. said I had sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome. I do not use the CPAP machine but probably should. The idea of wearing a mask on myself to sleep seems weird. I snore and hold my breath a lot according to my wife. They say you can die prematurely from sleep apnea but still alive at 67 yo!

Sometimes I wake up out of breath and put it down to holding my breath or a bad dream of somebody stealing my P car.I am not overweight. I am retired and if I am tired I sleep after lunch on the couch for about an hour. The outfit renting the CPAP were pushy so that was one reason I did not go for it. If it was a free trial I would have tried it.....

[boba]

I don't think sleep apnea is any more prevalent today than in the past. If you snore the chances are that you have it or will get it as you age.
I believe that the development of a treatment (Cpap) is what has raised the number of diagnosis and visibility.
I have been on Cpap since 1994, 20 years, and when I was first on it very few had heard about it. As other have said, now it seem like everyone knows someone or is on it themselves.
Seems like whenever a treatment is found the underlying condition grows.

[1990C4S]

More people being diagnosed does not mean it's on the rise.

[Don Ro]

An 80 yr. old friend spent a nite in a sleep disorder facility for viewing. Her Dr. suggested it. She has no apnea.

[John Rogers]

A couple years ago I had a sleep study completed as a last resort because of an excessive feeling of no energy and tiredness. They found I had my breathing stop 80 to 90 times an hour which is why I was not sleeping well or through the night. Once I tried a CPAP machine I found I would sleep through the night easily although I did have to make sure I peed very good before going to sleep and I still have to go really good when I wake up about 6:30 or so!

After a year I went back for a follow on study and they said no breathing stopping which was nice to hear. The company that supplies the equipment had no part of the study office and the machine they used was a bit different than the one I use.

As a side benefit, the California utility companies put a sticker on the meter and note on your smart meter connection that a "life saving" device is in the home so they never kill the power AND they knocked off $100 of my electric bill which is nice. The CA utilities have a form for the doctor to sign and send in and I was told by my regular doctor that many states do the reduction!

[jyl]

Does sleeping on your side reduce or prevent sleep apnea?