Worried about logging enough shut-eye? There may be more serious concerns when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep.

A recent Swedish study monitoring 400 sleeping women ages 20-70 suggests that up to 50% of women have sleep apnea: they stop breathing for more than 10 seconds at least 5 times an hour while they sleep.

The findings, which were published last month in the European Respiratory Journal, are both alarming and particularly significant considering that the sleep disorder tends to be associated with men. “More people know about sleep apnea than they used to, but it’s still often identified as a male disease,” says Nancy Collop, M.D., director of the Emory Sleep Center, who was not involved in the study. “But if you were to come to my clinic, you’d see that it’s not a male disease by any stretch of the imagination.”

When a person, male or female, suffers from obstructive sleep apnea—the type examined in the study—they breathe normally during the day, but when they fall asleep at night, their throat collapses, so they stop breathing adequately and don’t get enough oxygen. This disruption in breathing can last for 10-60 seconds, and it can happen as many as 80 times per hour! At best, the sleeping disorder can result in poor sleep quality, headaches, and daytime fatigue, but at worst, it can kill you by increasing your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. In fact, a 2008 study published in the journal Sleep found that people with severe sleep apnea were three times as likely to die of any cause compared to those without the disease.

So how do you know if you have it? Collop says that most people come to her clinic for a screening because their bed mate notices their abnormal nighttime breathing patterns. And while some sufferers also seek treatment because they feel tired and lethargic throughout the day, it can be tough to determine whether you have sleep apnea if you sleep alone. Here are some risk factors that can help clue you in:

• Excess weight: In the Swedish study, sleep apnea occurred in 84 percent of obese participants, with 20 percent suffering from severe cases of the disease. The reason? Collop says that excess fatty tissue around your neck can block your airway, making obesity a clear risk factor for the disorder. (And to make matters worse, sleep apnea can also lead to further weight gain: it can contribute to daytime fatigue, which may make sufferers more likely to overeat and avoid exercise.) 
• Persistent High Blood Pressure: The researchers also found a strong relationship between high blood pressure and sleep apnea—a whopping 80 percent of participants with hypertension had the sleep disorder. Other studies have confirmed this correlation, and Collop says that inadequate breathing is to blame. “The drop in oxygen levels that occurs seems to cause some change in the regulation of the blood vessels,” she explains. If a person has high blood pressure that isn’t responding to traditional interventions like diet modification and medication, sleep apnea could be the culprit. 
• Age: The study found that sleep apnea also occurred more frequently in older participants—a finding that’s consistent with previous research. In women specifically, Collop says the disorder is more likely to show up after menopause, a correlation that experts believe is related to hormonal fluctuations. 
• Throat obstruction: Regardless of age and body weight, Collop says people who have a large neck, small throat, big tongue, nasal or sinus condition, or any other factor that contributes to an obstructed airway are biologically predisposed to develop sleep apnea.

3 Ways to Sleep Safer

1. Maintain a healthy body weight. Losing weight can improve—and sometimes even eliminate—sleep apnea, says Collop. In fact, research has shown than even a modest 10-percent drop in body weight may significantly reduce the severity of the disease.

2. Sleep on your side. Thanks to gravity, laying on your side can open up your throat while you sleep, improving the severity of sleep apnea. And if you have a sleeping partner who suffers from the disorder, Collop recommends what she calls “elbow therapy.” “If your bed mate is snoring, give them an elbow, and they’ll roll over,” she explains.

3. See a specialist. If you think you might have sleep apnea, you should make an appointment with a sleep doctor for a screening. Aside from lifestyle changes, a variety of medical interventions are available to help treat the disease, including specialty sleep masks and surgeries. Also, because of the strong correlation between heart health and sleep apnea, Collop says that anyone with high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes should automatically be tested for the sleeping disorder.

photo: iStockPhoto/Thinkstock

More from WH:
Sleep Help: 15 Tricks to Sleep Better
Get Tested: Medical Tests for Women in Their 20s
Is Your Sleep Schedule Making You Fat?

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