Sleep Apnoea Forum Bringing Help + Support to the Patient
Here's a very interesting article written by Doctor Steven Park of why sleep apnoea can be hereditary. It sure is, depending on the reasons why a person has sleep apnoea. How do I know? Simple...... Hope2Sleep sells comfort products regularly to different sufferers in the same family (in a few cases, 3 generations). Look out for your precious family members, as we're more likely to see the signs than they are!
Dr Park's book he mentions can be bought here in the UK at http://www.hope2sleep.co.uk/products/16
As I describe in my book, "Sleep Interrupted", all modern humans are on a continuum, where we're all susceptible to breathing problems at night. Only the end extreme is called obstructive sleep apnea. Since sleep apnea is caused by narrow facial structures, young children and even infants can have it too. Many of the various childhood maladies, such as frequent colds, ear infections, bedwetting, night terrors, and even ADHD are probably related to poor breathing and inefficient sleep, aggravating inflammation in the upper airways. There's even speculation that the rate of autism increased after doctors recommended placing infants on their backs during sleep. It's not surprising then, that parents of autistic children are found to have a higher rate of obstructive sleep apnea.
Most young children are treated with tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy for their sleep apnea, and many children do very well. However, about 1/3 who undergo tonsillectomy don't improve significantly. These are the children that probably have smaller jaws. Smaller jaws leads to more reflux and inflammation, leading to enlarged tonsils, causing more frequent obstructions. In these children, rapid palatal expansion was found to be equivalent to tonsillectomy. If you combine both procedures, the results were additive.
Some young children are able to tolerate CPAP, but for most, this is not a practical option. One advantage that children have over adults is the malleability of their jaws. Orthodontics can not only help to straighten teeth, but to expand the jaws as well. Traditional orthodontic dentists tend to remove teeth to make more room for the other teeth, but that ends up making the jaws even smaller. Forward thinking orthodontists make more room for the teeth by enlarging the jaws, both in the front to back and side to side dimensions. The earlier you start, the better the long-term results. Many dentists are beginning treatment as soon as the permanent teeth have come in.
Dr Steven Park
http://doctorstevenpark.com/does-everyone-in-your-family-have-sleep...
Views: 2542
I think this research may argue both ways, though they only tested one way.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13119545
If a mother's diet can alter the DNA of her child and make her/him vulnerable to obesity could a changefor the better in a mother's diet make her offspring less prone to obesity? (I haven't read it yet.)
A very good university did the research - here in my home town of Southampton - but BBC reported it.
Good job I'm not a betting man!
TF
I'm not a great believer in studies. One minute they tell you something is good for you and the next minute it's disproved. I wonder what they would say about a family of siblings all born of the same mother but different sizes (overweight and slim) and with different appetites. Does this then mean that the mother changed her diet while carrying each child?
I know of one such family and I sit next to one of the siblings during the day. This girl has the appetite of a horse and is stick thin yet two of her sisters have to be very careful what they eat. Personally I think she has hollow legs as her body just doesn't have the room for all the food that she scoffs. I do think the genes have a part to play but I don't think it depends on what the mother eats.
Re the hereditary factor of sleep apnoea, I am the only one in my family who suffers with this. The rest of my family didn't snore and I never heard them gasp for breath when they were catching 40 winks. Where as I snored for Great Britain and have done since my 20s. On one occasion when I stayed with a friend her husband woke her up thinking someone was breaking into the house until she pointed out that it was me snoring in the room above!! I sometimes gasp for breath when I'm awake. This happened recently in a meeting and it just seemed to be a case of forgetting to breath. So I guess it's down to my very large tonsils or bone structure. It would be nice if the NHS investigated each case and gave a reason for the SA but not to be.
Julie
Tigers Fan said:
I think this research may argue both ways, though they only tested one way.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13119545
If a mother's diet can alter the DNA of her child and make her/him vulnerable to obesity could a changefor the better in a mother's diet make her offspring less prone to obesity? (I haven't read it yet.)
A very good university did the research - here in my home town of Southampton - but BBC reported it.
Good job I'm not a betting man!
TF
@TF
"Elsewhere, you inform us that you work as an RPSGT or Sleep Tech for short.
I take my car to a mechanic so he can fix it. He's not qualified to do anything else, no matter how good he thinks he is at Formula One racing track design."
I would like for you to show me where in this post I patronised you as you did me in the above statement. We are not talking about cars or racetracks. We are talking sleep and I am a sleep tech. I have spent the last 3 years of my life studying and researching the very topic of this discussion.
LMAO=laughing my ass off.
@Julie
We can't ignore the studies or the science. We can take each of them with a grain of salt. As individuals it is more important to find a healthy balance of diet, exercise, sleep, and social activity. We can't be healthy without being happy. Everything in moderation as they say.
Hi All
I am about to start this discussion again as i have just been told ive sleep apnea , no one in my family as far as i know does have sleep apnea but i have some alarm bells ringing . About ten years since my sister had a hip replacment and had a respratory arrest and was told it was a reaction to medication . so may be she has sleep apnea, also my mum passed away in her sleep but she was 70 and was fit and healty untill going to bed .i would class my self as very well covered but i havnt always been so did i put wt on because of the sleep apnea or not ive no idea and untill more studies and eividance is found i will have to wait. untill then ive lots to learn and lots to read about some bed time reading for me . ps i hope this makes sence but i am dislexic and i can not seem to find a spell checker GinaxUnfortunately there isn't a spell checker on here Gina, but don't you or anyone else ever worry about mistakes, as we're more interested in what people have to say than how they present it.
Alarm bells are ringing for me as to your sister. When we launched are recent new Sleep Apnoea Medical Alert Cards I had one lady who bought 3 - for each purse and bag. She'd had 2 near-misses when she needed reviving after emergency anaesthetics. At the time she didn't know she had sleep apnoea! It would be interesting to know if you Mum had it too. I would certainly suggest your sister investigate her likelihood of having OSA before her next surgery. Those of us already diagnosed need to be carefully observed during and after anaesthetic and must always declare this to the anaesthetist, as well as take in and use our CPAPs.. I had to go on the High Observation Unit after both my recent operations.
Sleep apnoea definitely runs in families when it's due to craniofacial issues, which it often is!
Its ok saying to my sister but she will not do any thing about it i did tell her to talk to her GP but i think people just think sleep apnea is just about snoring and it is not talked about enough people think you have to be fat to have it and she very thin so she will be ok !!!! but............ i arnt sure but what to do cos i am her baby sister lol and i have not a clue
Just tell her your very worried after the last time and will she do it for you and to shut you up LOL. Remember you told me that you yourself hardly snored, and many women who are diagnosed don't - same with children. My sister's finally getting herself checked out as she's due an operation, and makes terrible noises of gasping in her sleep.
gina said:
Its ok saying to my sister but she will not do any thing about it i did tell her to talk to her GP but i think people just think sleep apnea is just about snoring and it is not talked about enough people think you have to be fat to have it and she very thin so she will be ok !!!! but............ i arnt sure but what to do cos i am her baby sister lol and i have not a clue
Funny you should say that Carys, as was talking to my own cousin last week who's very ill and, like Gina mentioned, had to be revived after his latest surgery. He's also piled on weight in the past few years. He's my next target in the family when he's feeling better ;)
Carys said:
Recently my cousin (male) has been diagnosed with sleep apnoea, he is two weeks older than me and there is a strong family resemblance we have lived several hundred miles apart since we were children. Therefore would think that it would be more nature than nurture .
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