Is sleep Apnea Hereditary? you might be thinking about how sleep apnea can be inherited. Well, there are many factors which cause sleep apnea, but it is also associated with genetics.
Studies show that variations in various genes, each can increase the risk of sleep apnea with. However, it is unclear what the contribution of each of these changes in genes makes to disease risk.
Most of the variation in genes has been identified in single studies, but subsequent research has not varied them.
You should also discuss your family history of sleep apnea with your doctor. It will necessary if you are experiencing its symptoms like loud snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, morning headache, lack of energy, restlessness after a night sleep, etc.
Sleep apnea is thought to be associated with the development of obstructive sleep apnea. These include communication between nerve cells, the response by the immune system, breathing regulation, the sleep-wake cycle, development of tissues in the face and head, etc.
The inheritance pattern of sleep apnea is unclear now, but the risk of developing sleep apnea is about 50% more for first degree relatives of the affected individual as compared to general people.
Obesity or higher BMI of people is the major risk factor of developing sleep apnea in individuals. 60 to 70% of the individual with this condition are obese.
It is thought that excess fat tissue in the heads and neck obstruct airways and abdominal fat prevent lungs and chest from fully expanding and relaxing.
However, other factors that contribute to sleep apnea is the use of alcohol, blockage of the airway, frequent nasal congestion, etc.
- Genetics Home Reference “Obstructive sleep apnea” “https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/obstructive-sleep-apnea#genes”
- NCBI “A candidate gene study of obstructive sleep apnea in European Americans and African Americans.” “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20538960”
- NCBI “Genetic and immunologic aspects of sleep and sleep disorders.” “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648914”
- NCBI “Genetic and immunologic aspects of sleep and sleep disorders” “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2970865/”
- NCBI “The Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe)” “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3498243/”
- NCBI “Serotonergic Gene Polymorphisms and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome” “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3903532/”