Sleep apnea is arguably one of the most underdiagnosed conditions worldwide and full sleep apnea statistics worldwide are shocking. Here are 24 things you should know about this condition.
Falling under the larger category of sleep disordered breathing, sleep apnea comes in three forms: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and complex sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is most common type and occurs when a sleeper’s throat and tongue relax so much during sleep that the airway is blocked.
Central sleep apnea is a rare form of sleep apnea that occurs when the sleeper’s central nervous system essentially “forgets” to tell the sleeper to breathe. Rarer still is complex sleep apnea – a combination of both of the first two types.
A sleep apnea diagnosis is usually made with a sleep study that measures various biological changes during sleep. Additionally, the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) measures the severity of the sleep apnea. Apneas are pauses in breathing, and hypopnea measures the times that breath is constricted. Combined, these relate to the AHI that determine the level of severity.
Even if you don’t have a diagnosis, sleep apnea statistics show that there is a good chance you or someone you love has sleep apnea. Here’s what else you should know.
A 2018 study estimated that one billion people across the globe suffer from sleep apnea (a huge leap from previous estimates of 100 million).
Studies suggest 80% of sleep issues are a result of undiagnosed sleep apnea.
In the U.S., up to 4% of children between the ages of two and eight may have sleep apnea.
As we age, the risk of sleep apnea doubles for men and triples for women.
Men receive a sleep apnea diagnosis at twice the rate of women.
As many as 50% of women could have some level of sleep apnea.
Post-menopausal women have the same level of risk as men.
For both genders and all ages, obesity is a risk factor in 60% of all diagnosed cases of sleep apnea.
In all genders, a 10% increase in body-mass index results in a six-fold increased risk of a mild case of sleep apnea progressing to more severe cases.
Overweight men have five times the risk of developing sleep apnea than overweight women.
A study in 2017 found that 50% of depressed patients had severe sleep apnea (mostly undiagnosed) and the majority of them had some level of sleep apnea.
An estimated 47 to 83% of people with heart disease also have sleep apnea.
In an unanswered chicken-and-egg question, AFIB and sleep apnea each make the other condition worse.
Oxidative stress that occurs during a sleep apnea-filled night increases the chances of hypertension.
While it is true that we will all someday die, untreated sleep apnea triples the risk of premature death from any cause.
Nearly double the number of people with severe sleep apnea died of heart failure when compared to those without it (42% compared to 25%).
A Yale study found that your risk of heart attack increases by 30% for every four or five years that you have sleep apnea.
Those who suffer from sleep apnea are two or three times more likely to have a stroke.
Up to 83% of Type 2 diabetics suffer from undiagnosed sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is diagnosed at about the same rate as asthma (20 million) and diabetes (24 million).
Even those with mild sleep apnea are at twice the risk of traffic accidents (and moderate to severe sleep apnea carries a fifteen-fold risk).
Compliance with CPAP use is a big problem, with nearly half of all patients not starting or abandoning treatment within four weeks.
For non-compliant patients, sleep apnea dental devices are just as effective as CPAP machines in mild to moderate cases of sleep apnea.
In the two years before their diagnosis, sleep apnea patients can cost an average of $200,000 more than other people without sleep apnea.
These sleep apnea statistics may paint a grim picture, but sleep apnea is treatable. In addition to lifestyle changes that include weight loss and healthy diet and exercise, CPAP machines and sleep apnea dental devices could save your life.
For more questions about sleep apnea and to evaluate your risk factors, get in touch with the sleep apnea dentists at AZ Sleep.