Question: Can sleep apnea run in the family ?

Rachel Sharman answered on 14 Nov 2018:

Most sleep apnea is called obstrucive sleep apnea. Its where the neck gets really floppy when we sleep and something called the soft palette slightly blocks it. These people usually snore too. This type of apnoea is usally down to weight and neck size. Our body build is driven by partly by genetics.
The other type is called central sleep apnea. Its where our body temporarily pauses in breathing. There is no snoring and we think this is because the sensors in the body that tell us how much oxygen in the blood arent working as well.

So its sort of a yes and no answer. Some bits passed in families, like neck size, are risk factors and then their are environmental factors like weight which is also a big risk factor.