Sleep Apnea and ethnicity

[Frank Booth]

I have seen this mentioned a bit online but not found out much about it. It seems that ethnicity can be a factor in OSA and was curious what anyone else knew about it. The little things I have seen mentioned talk about african-americans and also chinese (so not sure if there is a connection between between different ethnic groups). I am mixed south asian/white but realise looking back I have always snored even when an ultra skinny teenager and always felt tired from the earliest age.

If anyone has any info on this it would be interesting to find out more, in particular as some other issues that effect me like high blood pressure, carrying excess weight, risk of diabetes and heart disease are cited as significant health problems for south asian people anyway but are also exacerbated/caused by OSA.

[James @ Intus]

Yes, in the various seminars and OSA training days I've attended this topic does come up at times. It is well-known (by the professionals anyway) that Asians in general, and I guess the shorter Far-Eastern types even more so, struggle with sleep-disordered breathing like snoring and OSA much quicker than westerners.

If I remember correctly, it's simply a fact of physiology, narrower windpipes, shorter necks, shorter lower jaw, that type of thing. Mix in an increasingly western diet to add a bit of extra fatty tissue and you have sleep-disordered breathing on your hands.

Official info here:

http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&q=ethnicity+snoring&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

[Sleep2Snore]

There is some some ethnic groups like other genetic groups will suffer more or less as the case might be due their origin and who passed on their genes to you and others.
Not everyone that is obese has OSA and some have OSA that are quite thin, so a percentage has to be down to your family tree I'm afraid.

[symmit]

If I remember correctly, it's simply a fact of physiology, narrower windpipes, shorter necks, shorter lower jaw, that type of thing. Mix in an increasingly western diet to add a bit of extra fatty tissue and you have sleep-disordered breathing on your hands.

So... as a part-asian brought up by white english adoptive parents in yorkshire on fish and chips cooked in beef dripping and roast beef/yorkshire puds then I'm doomed?

Need to sort out my McDonald's addiction I suppose

[James @ Intus]

Yes, you are! Or at least, the odds are against you

I'm sure you can rise to the challenge and be the one who proves the statistics wrong.

[symmit]

Yes, you are! Or at least, the odds are against you

I'm sure you can rise to the challenge and be the one who proves the statistics wrong.

Heh - I fit in the profile quite well, being part asian, having a very small nose (dear circadiance... some people have small noses, please make a sleepweaver with a slightly smaller hole), having snored from a very early age and finding the western diet is conducive to weight gain.

Oddly, before I got married I used to eat very little and was grossly underweight by western standards (BMI=18), 18 yrs later, no longer cooking for myself but eating with the family and I'm at BMI=37.

I wonder if the there's a disposition to depositing fat from certain foods in the Asian genome....

[Frank Booth]

I wonder if the there's a disposition to depositing fat from certain foods in the Asian genome....

One thing I found interesting was that asian people (from the sub-continent I mean) put weight on around their stomachs. You can have skinny little legs and a big belly hanging above. In asian countries people eat less so it often not as obvious (except on the well-off) but in the west where people eat more it is a problem. Also eating a lot of white rice does not help. Also in Sri Lanka where my father is from they use coconut milk in the curries which is about as unhealthy as you can get in large dosage (if you want a shock look at the figure for saturated fat in a can of coconut milk!). The other place the weight seems to go is on your face around the jawline and neck which must make any genetic tendency to OSA worse.

[symmit]

One thing I found interesting was that asian people (from the sub-continent I mean) put weight on around their stomachs. You can have skinny little legs and a big belly hanging above...

... The other place the weight seems to go is on your face around the jawline and neck which must make any genetic tendency to OSA worse.

Congratulations - you could probably draw me without having ever met me.

[Frank Booth]

Congratulations - you could probably draw me without having ever met me.

nice one. it's 2.30 am and I am quite drunk so that has had me giggling like an idiot. (I am also still not sober enough to regret my take away kebab, left over curry and 7 chocolate mini rolls but that's what drinking does to you)

[symmit]

nice one. it's 2.30 am and I am quite drunk so that has had me giggling like an idiot. (I am also still not sober enough to regret my take away kebab, left over curry and 7 chocolate mini rolls but that's what drinking does to you)

Lol - good to see a balanced diet - that's three food groups in one evening.

I have found that since starting on the CPAP I can't sleep after a curry. Must do sunday night curries a little earlier.

[Sparticus]

nice one. it's 2.30 am and I am quite drunk so that has had me giggling like an idiot. (I am also still not sober enough to regret my take away kebab, left over curry and 7 chocolate mini rolls but that's what drinking does to you)

I too have problems sleeping after 2 tons of haggis and a bottle of whiskey. Strange how you adapt to other countries customs, especially for a yorkshire lad anyway

[Berneta]

Ethnicity--Genes--and Environment

I think some people are more inclined toward OSA because of their genes causing short necks, etc. And it figures that Orientals, or others might be more prone to OSA. But I also believe that Environment has a lot to do with it too. Families who are raised on a high fat, high carb, and high sugar diet would be more prone OSA, Diabetes,and High Blood Pressure, and clogged arteries.. Generally we eat the way our family ate, and the way their family ate before them. We have learned our bad habits from our families through generations of bad habits. And whats worse is we teach our children the same lifestyle--condemning them to health problems too. That is why some people with OSA are overweight and have parents and children who are too. Here in the States Diabetes is a chronic condition among the Pima Native Amerians. Its hard to break habits that came down through the generations-- I wonder if there has ever been a study done on this subject and OSA. I would love to read it. I came from a Family of Farmers--plenty to eat of the wrong kinds of food. We had lots of children in each generation of the family, so nobody had to work overly hard, so no one got tons of exercise. Carbs--Fats--Lots of Meat and Diary Products, Eggs, Sweets, and Sweet Drinks. I am trying to change my diet to one that is more healthy-- but its not easy. Old habits die hard. x Berneta

[Frank Booth]

Generally we eat the way our family ate, and the way their family ate before them. We have learned our bad habits from our families through generations of bad habits. And whats worse is we teach our children the same lifestyle--condemning them to health problems too.

Good point. I remember years ago when I finished my degree I ended up living with my parents. My weight went up and up and I felt terrible all the time. When I went to the doctor and complained about how ill I felt and what I should do he said "Leave home". At the time I thought he was being unhelpful but he made a lot of sense. He could see me developing my father's health problems - but at a much earlier age.