A sleeping disorder that causes periods of stopped breathing is more common in African-Americans than other ethnic groups, according to two studies presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference. The condition, called obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, occurs when the muscles at the base of the throat relax and cause blockage of the airway.
Sufferers wake up with headaches, drowsiness, memory problems and hypertension.
OSA occurs in four to 14 percent of males and disproportionately affects obese persons. More than 12 million Americans suffer from the condition. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia studied 78 subjects and found that anatomical predictors for the condition like overbite, receding chin or buck-teeth, were more common among African Americans. The data indicate that ethnicity is an important variable in understanding the structure of the upper airway, said Rohan Ramakrishna, lead author of the study. A study from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan confirmed that African-Americans are more likely to suffer the condition and that they tended to have more severe episodes of apnea than Caucasian subjects.