Who is Affected and How?
Statistics and Basic Facts
There are approximately 18 million people in the United States with Sleep Apnea and actually that number could be as high as 23 million persons. Perhaps as many as 10 million of them are undiagnosed. Most people diagnosed with Sleep Apnea are over the age of 40; however, it can affect children and people of any age, but is less common in those categories. The typical Sleep Apnea patient is a middle aged male who is obese or overweight, has a thick neck, high blood pressure, snores, and may have some physical abnormality in the breathing passage. Although that is the average person, Sleep Apnea can affect anyone, and there are plenty of atypical people who are thin or do not snore who are diagnosed with this sleeping disorder. Approximately 4 to 9 % percent of middle aged men have Sleep Apnea while about 2 to 4 percent of middle aged women suffer from Sleep Apnea.
There does seem to be strong evidence for a genetic basis or gene factors involved since often Sleep Apnea runs in families, but scientists say further research is still needed.
People at a higher risk for Sleep Apnea include the obese, cigarette smokers, alcoholics or heavy drinkers, persons with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, or those who have had a stroke, as well as people with thyroid problems. Also anyone who has abnormalities in their breathing passage such as enlarged tonsils, an abnormally large tongue (macroglossia), an unusually small jaw (micrognathia), or a jaw that is set back or other craniofacial abnormalities could be at high risk.
Health Risks of Untreated Sleep Apnea
People with untreated Sleep Apnea have many health risks associated with the disorder, up to and including death. Perhaps the most famous recent example of someone who died from complications of Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the NFL football player Reggie White.
Sleep Apnea can also lead to or be a contributor to the following: hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, strokes, diabetes, congestive heart failure, pulmonary arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), tachycardia (rapid increase in heartbeat), hypoxia (lack of oxygen in the bloodstream), atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), and myocardial infarction (lack of proper blood flow to part of the heart. Also, the statistics linking Sleep Apnea to psychological or affective disorders such as depression, anxiety, and mood or personality disorders, appears to be quite strong.
Besides these severe health issues, there are the other day to day factors and symptoms listed previously that can negatively affect a person's quality of life, overall health, personal relationships, ability to work effectively and function in the world.
Sleep Apnea Affects Drivers
A person with undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea is six (6) times more likely to be in a car wreck or automobile crash and should be considered a danger on the road. Drowsy driving is quite a large problem and while not all of it can be attributed to those with untreated Sleep Apnea, the overall numbers on drowsy driving are quite staggering. In fact about 28 percent of commercial motor vehicle or truck drivers have some form of Sleep Apnea. Some people are first diagnosed with a sleep disorder due to an auto accident.
Famous People with Sleep Apnea
There is a very high likelihood that these people had Sleep Apnea: Napoleon Bonaparte, Grover Cleveland, Johannes Brahms, Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the comedian John Candy.
More recent celebrities who have had it come out in public that they have Sleep Apnea: Reggie White (NFL football player), Rosie O'Donnell (comedienne and talk show host), William Howard Taft (former President), Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead Guitarist), Billy Connolly (actor), Anne Rice (writer), Johnny Grunge (professional wrestler), William Shatner (actor), George Kennedy (actor), William Tarmey (actor), Divine (aka Glen Milstead - actor), Jason Rutcofsky (musician), Hall Sutton (PGA Champion), Mark Calcavecchia (PGA Golfer), and John McEuen (founder of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). It is suspected that Sleep Apnea was a contributing factor in the death of actor Chris Penn; actor Sean Penn's brother.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine of 300 NFL pro football players showed a Sleep Apnea rate of 14% which is 5 times higher compared to the general population in their same age/sex category. Linemen in particular had a very high rate with 34% having been found to suffer from Sleep Apnea.
Sleep Apnea Affects Partners and Spouses
Few people realize that not only does the patient suffer from Sleep Apnea; often their partners or spouses are adversely affected. In fact, it is often at the insistence of the spouse that the disordered person finally seeks help or becomes compliant with the sleep therapy. Partners and spouses often lose sleep due to snoring or even the use of a CPAP machine. One statistic shows spouses lose about one hour of sleep per night when they are bedmates with someone who has untreated Sleep Apnea.
While there are few actual studies done on how Sleep Apnea, treated or untreated, affects the spouse, it is not hard to imagine the problems that could occur from living with someone who snores loudly, and who may be tired all the time, possibly depressed, and moody, and who has trouble functioning or concentrating, etc. Certainly there are many hardships and even divorces that have occurred due directly or indirectly to untreated Sleep Apnea. Some spouses also have to deal with someone who is diagnosed but refuses to follow the sleep therapy or doctor's advice or treatment, which can be frustrating.
Once a person is diagnosed however, often there are vast improvements in their lives due to treatment, but sometimes it comes with a new set of issues, such as CPAP machine noise, or air blowing from the CPAP mask onto the partner, and so on. But these can be overcome and the trade-offs are certainly much better issues to have than the ones that emanate from untreated Sleep-Disordered Breathing (SDB) or OSA.
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