Family connection?

[DozyDaisy]

Hello Wise Ones

My sister (older, without my other health issues, and a totally different body shape), has just been diagnosed with OSA. It seems to be mild, and she does not have to inform the DVLA, and she is going to undertake a trial with a Cpap machine. She has been complaining of TATT syndrome (tired all the time - for those who may not have come across it). After I told her about how much better I felt she asked her GP for a test, she did an overnight home test, scored 18/24 on that Ep-thingy tiredness score. And her local hospital is going to set up the trial. This hospital is one in Kent, mine is in London. We do not live near each other.

So, my question is this - could there be a family connection here? Rather than the assumption that most osa-ers are male, a bit podgy, and snorers, amybe there are other issues/indicators. My sister and I are quite different in most ways (although we are both female !).

Happy Christmas and/or Happy Holidays


Daisy

[puffin]

Genes have a lot to answer for, my brother also has OSA but his local NHS does not have a sleep clinic and he can not get funding. There is a good chance that other family members may be sufferers so ask around.

[Joe McManus]

That's interesting. I've never come across (or looked for) any such research but it seems logical to me. If it's in the family that people have loose throat tissue, it seems likely to me the offspring are likely to get that too. Same I guess in the case of lower jaw shape and central apnoea.

[TIREDTINA]

Hi all, I was told by specailist at the Bromton Hospital that is was quite likely I would find other menbers in my family with OSA. I was told my tubes were the problem and it is genetic. Apparently I have had OSA all my life. I have certanly known somthing was always wrong but after many tests by doctors and hostpitals. I have only just been diagned at 50 years old.

[Joe McManus]

Hi Tina, welcome to the forums and thanks for chipping in. I had a look and there are various articles that suggest such a hereditary links may indeed be the case for some:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/564773.stm

"Snoring could run in the family, according to scientists who say they are close to pinpointing a gene that causes the condition. "

A leading US expert also mentions: http://sleepapneaed.blogspot.com/200...a-patient.html

"It depends a lot on why you developed sleep apnea... genetics (runs in the family), excess weight, naturally occurring narrow upper airway."

As I suggested in my previous post, facial shape is also hereditary: http://www.priory.com/cmol/obstruct.htm

"Quite subtle degrees of underdevelopment and retropositioning of the mandible and maxilla contribute to the development of sleep apnoea. This particular facial shape may to some extent be hereditary, although there is also evidence that prolonged mouth breathing as an infant can produce similar changes (sometimes called the adenoidal facies)."

More form a Doc here: http://www.sleepquest.com/d_ask.html

"[SIZE=2]It has been shown that sleep apnea is more likely to occur when a person has family members with this disease. The degree to which heredity increases one's risk of developing sleep apnea continues to be investigated. Researchers have not been able to always consistently pinpoint familial factors for this. Some family members share obesity; while others share similar jaw structures. Still other families seem to share abnormalities in breathing regulation. But in many families, there are no apparent physiological factors for genetic transmission.[/SIZE]"

So there's plenty to suggest Daisy's suspicion is right.