If your loud-snoring slumber is frequently disrupted by your partner’s flying elbow, it could be a sign of a serious health problem, according to a recent study which found an association between being woken due to snoring, and likelihood of having sleep apnea.
Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan asked 124 patients the following two questions: Does your bed-partner ever poke or elbow you because you’re snoring? and Does your bed-partner ever poke or elbow you because you’ve stopped breathing? Those who answered “yes” to one or more questions were more likely have sleep apnea, the sleep disorder in which the sleeper takes abnormal pauses between breaths. Researchers think the so-called “elbow test” has potential to predict whether a person may have sleep apnea before they go in for a polysomnogram, the diagnostic test for sleep disorders. That’s promising, as statistics show about 80% of people with sleep apnea don’t even know they have it.
Those who suffer from this sleep disorder face the scary prospect of breath ceasing in the night. And if that’s not enough to worry about, the sleep apnea was recently named a cause of high blood pressure in women. In addition to snoring so loudly that you get poked, sleep apnea has other symptoms, particularly among women, for whom symptoms can be more subtle. Fatigue after seven to eight hours of sleep, memory lapses, morning headaches, waking to a sore throat, irritability, and depression could be indicators of sleep apnea–just ask your doctor whether sleeping problems may be to blame. In the meantime? Check out these three ways to sleep safer.
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15 Ways to Sleep Better
Yoga for Better Sleep
Are You Using the Right Pillow?
