sleep apnea is one of the most common and potentially dangerous sleeping disorders on the planet. Doctors estimate that around three percent of the adult population of the UK suffers from it. We also know that men are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disorder as women. What exactly is it? The word apnea comes from a Greek word that means without breath. Basically, a person with chronic sleep apnea will actually stop breathing as they sleep, sometimes hundreds of times a night. As you might expect, when they stop breathing for long enough, they will often wake up, sometimes dozens of times a night.
Not surprisingly, people who suffer from this disorder do not get much sleep. What causes it? The most common type of apnea is called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and it is a simple breathing disorder. What happens is that the breath gets caught in the upper airway and cannot reach the lungs. Occasionally, when a sufferer is in deep REM sleep, he will not wake up even if he stops breathing, but his sleep will still be affected.
Why does it happen? Not every case of chronic sleep apnea can be explained. But we do know that overweight and obese people are far more likely to suffer from the disorder than individuals who are at an ideal or average weight.
The reason for this is simple: fat neck! That's right, fat neck! You see, when a person has a lot of excess fat around his chin and neck region it can press down on the upper airway, which inevitably makes it smaller, narrower. These problems are rarely noticed during the day when muscles keep the airways open. But when people relax and lie down, the apnea often manifests itself.