Twelve to twenty million Americans suffer from sleep apnea in varying degrees, according to estimates. The condition is not “age-specific” and affects individuals of every age, including children. Both men and women develop sleep apnea, although it’s more common in men than women, especially middle-aged men who are overweight. Part of this is believed to be due to the fact that men have a thicker neck circumference than women.

Breaking sleep apnea down even further by gender … approximately twenty-four percent of men suffer from the sleep disorder while the percentage for women is nine percent. Women who have not yet entered menopause are less likely to suffer from the condition than women who are presently experiencing menopause or women who have already gone through it. However after menopause women are as likely as men to develop the disorder.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common of all sleep disorders. It’s estimated that half of the patients suffering from the condition also suffer from loud, habitual snoring and are overweight. According to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research, approximately 38,000 deaths occur on an annual basis related to cardiovascular problems that in one way or another are connected to this condition. These problems include high blood pressure, hypertension, and stroke.

An estimated six million Americans experience moderate to severe sleep apnea that may necessitate a late night visit to the emergency room. Unfortunately a great many people do not even realize that they suffer from sleep apnea. This number is somewhere around 500,000 individuals.

Of the men and women that suffer from sleep apnea, approximately four percent of men and two percent of women meet what is deemed as the “diagnostic criteria” for the sleep disorder, which averages an estimated ten bouts of apnea (or apneic events or episodes) in the course of an hour while they sleep.

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