Who is More Likely to Develop Sleep Apnea

Raena Morgan: Dr. Hajal, who is more likely to develop sleep apnea, men or women? Dr. Rizan Hajal: Actually it's a good question. Men are more likely to develop sleep apnea before the age of 50 or 60. But then after that, women catch up really fast. And if you take 60-year-olds, you will find that women and men have the similar amount of sleep apnea and snoring and all those problems and which doesn't mean that we don't see that in women. I don't want women who are younger to think they don't have sleep apnea. It's a very common and we see this all the time. Raena Morgan: So, it's the snoring that sets it apart. I mean, that's the key. Dr. Rizan Hajal: True, true and the sleepiness, fatigue and fogginess and that. Raena Morgan: Are men more likely to come in and have themselves checked? Dr. Rizan Hajal: Well, no, that depends. Raena Morgan: So, they go undiagnosed perhaps? Dr. Rizan Hajal: Sometimes they aren't, yeah. And it all depends how much their wives can push them and vice versa, how much the husband can push them to come in here. And we frequently see years of delay before the diagnosis. Raena Morgan: Years. Dr. Rizan Hajal: Yes, years. Raena Morgan: So, they're fighting this all along. Dr. Rizan Hajal: True. Raena Morgan: They're disrupting their wives' sleep. Dr. Rizan Hajal: Right. And when they come in, they're surprised, I mean, why did I waste all those years not being treated, because when we give them the CPAP, it takes about a couple of weeks, they feel so much better and able to function fully. And they are surprised why it took them so many years to come in here. Raena Morgan: And explain what the CPAP is? Dr. Rizan Hajal: CPAP is non-medicated and is not additional oxygen. It just blows the air in the room, but at a higher pressure. So what that does is it pushes the tissues away from each other so that you're able to breathe normally. So by pushing the muscles away from each other, the snoring goes away and the collapse of the airways goes away and the rest of the breathing is yours. So, it's very natural. It has hardly any side effects because it's just regular room air. And it's something that you can use for years and years without any side effects to your body. Raena Morgan: It used to be pretty big and clunky, didn't it? Dr. Rizan Hajal: They used to be very big and clunky. Now is that is very, very quiet and the more you wait, the more you're going to get newer machines, very quiet. They adjust to your breathing, so they're a little bit easier for you to breathe. And the masks we have now 50 masks out there to chose from. So, you can find the one that fits your face, the one that, you know, you want it to be bigger, smaller, anything we have available. Things have come a long way. Raena Morgan: Thank you. Dr. Rizan Hajal: Okay.