Hi Quen Sang, thanks for the D2D!
People get sleep apnea if a block in the airway passage results in significant oxygen desaturation in sleep. In sleep apnea, there is reduced oxygen in the blood from obstruction or collapse of the nose-oral-pharyngeal- laryngeal airway.
The most common causes in children are allergic rhinitis, adenoid and tonsils enlargement. For adults, the common causes are nose block from allergic rhinitis, deviated nose bone, hypertrophic turbinates, polyps; soft palate redundancy and medialisation; receded lower jaw, prolapsed large tongue base, poor muscle tone and obesity.
Both obesity and aging are on the rise in Singapore, resulting in rising incidence of sleep apnea too. Just by virtue of being Chinese, with more restricted facial and head proportions, there is also increased risk of sleep apnea.
In Singapore, there is still a lot more that needs to be done to increase awareness amongst the population wrt snoring and sleep apnea. The Singapore Health Study 2012 noted that 31% of the population had moderate to severe sleep disordered breathing. Amongst those affected, 90% were undiagnosed.
