Are most cases of sleep apnea caused by being overweight?

3 Comments

1. crankyissues says:

   June 3, 2010 at 11:24 am

   I would have to say no, but I’m no doc…. my mom and I both have it, and we’re not much overweight… could probably stand to lose a few pounds, but I’ve had it longer than I’ve had my gut! LOL…..
2. Erica says:

   June 3, 2010 at 12:15 pm

   Definitely, absolutely, 100% yes. Aside from Down syndrome (which causes apnea due to craniofacial abnormalities), being overweight or obese is the biggest predictor of apnea. However, anyone CAN have apnea — some of the worst cases of apnea I’ve seen have been patients who are perfectly normal weight and just have a lot of tissue in their airway or small airways to begin with. The older you get, the less overweight you need to be to be at risk for apnea — as skin and airway tissues break down, they collapse a lot more easily. Another strong indicator is neck size. If you’re neck is over 15″ around, you’re at a greatly increased risk of apnea. Of the patients I see who have apnea, I’d say well over 95% are overweight or obese.
3. James says:

   June 3, 2010 at 12:52 pm

   Strongly i will answer yes for this one. Overweight is one of the cause for sleep apnea.