Complications can include:Дaytime fatigue. Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition. Having had a stroke increases your risk of central sleep apnea or treatment-emergent central sleep apnea. Opioid medications, especially long-acting ones such as methadone, increase the risk of central sleep apnea. Having congestive heart failure increases the risk. Central sleep apnea is more common in men than it is in women. Middle-aged and older people have a higher risk of central sleep apnea. Risk factors for this form of sleep apnea include: Polycystic ovary syndrome, hormonal disorders, prior stroke and chronic lung diseases such as asthma also can increase risk. Congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease are some of the conditions that may increase the risk of obstructive sleep apnea. If you have difficulty breathing through your nose - whether from an anatomical problem or allergies - you're more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea. Smoking can increase the amount of inflammation and fluid retention in the upper airway. Smokers are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than are people who've never smoked. These substances relax the muscles in your throat, which can worsen obstructive sleep apnea. Use of alcohol, sedatives or tranquilizers.Having family members with sleep apnea might increase your risk. Sleep apnea occurs significantly more often in older adults. However, women increase their risk if they're overweight, and their risk also appears to rise after menopause. Men are two to three times more likely to have sleep apnea than are women.

Tonsils or adenoids also can enlarge and block the airway, particularly in children. You might have inherited a narrow throat. People with thicker necks might have narrower airways. Fat deposits around your upper airway can obstruct your breathing. Obesity greatly increases the risk of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apneaДЇactors that increase the risk of this form of sleep apnea include: Sleep apnea can affect anyone, even children. You might awaken with shortness of breath or have a difficult time getting to sleep or staying asleep. This means that you make no effort to breathe for a short period. This less common form of sleep apnea occurs when your brain fails to transmit signals to your breathing muscles. This pattern can repeat itself five to 30 times or more each hour, all night, impairing your ability to reach the deep, restful phases of sleep. This awakening is usually so brief that you don't remember it. Your brain senses your inability to breathe and briefly rouses you from sleep so that you can reopen your airway.

You can't get enough air, which can lower the oxygen level in your blood. When the muscles relax, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe in. These muscles support the soft palate, the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils, the side walls of the throat and the tongue. This occurs when the muscles in the back of your throat relax.

When these muscles relax, your airway is narrowed or closed, and breathing is momentarily cut off. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles that support the soft tissues in your throat, such as your tongue and soft palate, temporarily relax.