Study suggests women may be undertreated for obstructive sleep apnea.

[2greys]

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been considered a predominantly male disease. While more women have been diagnosed with OSA in recent years, the numbers remain disproportionate, with 3-to-5 times more men than women receiving an OSA diagnosis. Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Yale School of Medicine set out to understand this disparity and its causes. They found that a high proportion of women experienced sleep apnea during dream sleep, which is associated with adverse outcomes including cardiovascular disease. Their findings have implications for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of OSA among women and men and are published in the journal SLEEP.

medicalxpress.com/news/2019...

[Izb1]

Thats interesting. The consultant in the hospital asked me 4/5 questions from the computer to decide if I had this, he said I didnt, which I am not sure if I do. So perhaps its the test that is wrong, maybe doctors use a different one for women x

[Moon_maiden in reply to Izb1]

Hi This might be a bit late, I came across this with a search. I wouldn't have been diagnosed based on the questions (epworth scale), but was fairly sure I did. I hired a home test kit for three nights and came back severe for all of them. Sent to GP and he did a referral. The questions are useless really. Hopefully you've managed to sort it out.

[Izb1 in reply to Moon_maiden]

Thanks for replying Moon maiden, no it never got sorted and i wouldnt mind trying a home kit, where did you get yours from??

[Moon_maiden in reply to Izb1]

I hired mine from a sleep charity. I’ll pm info.

[Osha]

Very interesting 2greys. I have broncheactesis and my breathing gets bad at times. I wear a wrist watch that keeps time with pulse. Sometimes my watch has slowed down by an hour during the night. Does anyone else experience this

[Izb1 in reply to Osha]

Thats a good idea Osha, have never heard of these watches, think mine will be an hour in front as my resting heart rate is fast ha!

[Izb1]

Wow Redsox, that just goes to show you, it all depends on your doctor, thank goodness you have a good one and have now been treated x

[Hidden]

My sister had years of extreme tiredness an upoer respiratory cough and her husband complaining of her snoring. In spite of my nagging about sleeo apnoea her GP insisted it was post nasal drip. Eventually I persuaded her husband to insist that she was referred to the sleep clinic at Southampton. She had a monitor overnight and she stopoed breathing 58 times! She now has a coap machine and life has transformed.