Are you tired all the time? Do you struggle to stay awake in the afternoon and often fall asleep in front of the TV? Has your sex life dried up?
If so, you may be suffering from a commonly undiagnosed condition called sleep apnea. It is estimated that at least ten million people in the UK suffer from sleep apnea, but less than 15 per cent of those affected are aware that they have it, let alone that they are being treated. And the people who are least treated are women.
People with sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly throughout the night (this can be for a few seconds or longer than a minute).
This not only disrupts sleep, but over time leads to weight gain and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. It also reduces the production of sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone, although it is not clear why, and reduces sex drive.
I have always associated sleep apnea with overweight men who snore, and they are definitely at risk, especially since excess fat around the neck puts pressure on the upper airway during sleep.
It is estimated that at least ten million people in the UK suffer from sleep apnea. file image
But as I discovered during a new series on sleep, sleep apnea affects all ages—and is common in women (according to a Swedish study, 20 percent of women have moderate to severe sleep apnea, and 90 percent of them don’t know they have it it).
The main form of sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), usually occurs when your tongue falls back and partially blocks your airway.
If it gets worse, this blockage means you stop breathing, which wakes you up so you can shift, perhaps from lying on your back to your side, to release the blockage.
Regularly cutting off oxygen and staying awake all the time can harm your brain and body. It is a major cause of severely elevated blood pressure leading to stroke, fatigue and irritability.
It can even kill you. The actress Carrie Fisher, best known as Princess Leia in Star Wars, died of a heart attack on a plane at the age of 60. The coroner said the main causes were untreated sleep apnea and a buildup of fatty tissue on the walls of her arteries. Men are often diagnosed because their partner notices snoring, frequent breathing pauses and wheezing or snoring sounds.
Unfortunately, men don’t seem to notice when the same thing happens to women, so women aren’t pushed to the doctor as often.
Women also often have slightly different symptoms – when they visit the doctor, they often report, for example, fatigue, headaches or restless legs, which their GP may not immediately recognize as being related to sleep apnea. Why women are more prone to these symptoms is unclear, but one theory is that they tend to have different sleep cycles and this leads to less but more severe apnea (waking).
Sleep apnea gets worse after menopause, partly because women are more likely to gain weight, but also because of the drop in the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which strengthen the upper airways and prevent them from collapsing.
A Norwegian study published last year in PLOS One found that women with lower levels of these hormones were much more likely to snore and suffer from sleep apnea.
But if you are referred for testing and it turns out you have OSA, you have a few options. Losing weight is a good start. Although thin people can develop OSA, it is more common in obese people.
For a study in Finland, a group of overweight or obese people with OSA were put on a rapid weight loss diet (800 calories per day for up to 12 weeks; similar to my Fast 800 program). They lost an average of 10.7 kg and more than half of them cured OSA. Even if they only lost 3 kg and kept it off, their chance of curing their OSA was still 38 percent.
Another option is to buy a device that allows you to sleep on your side instead of your back. I’ve seen one that you wear around your neck while you sleep that vibrates you a little when it detects you’re on your back and prompts you to move. Tethering a tennis ball to the back of your pajamas will have a similar effect. I know people who swear by it.
There is also something called a mandibular musculoskeletal system (MAD) that you can usually get from a dentist, which is a bit like an advanced mouth guard. When you use it at night, it moves your lower jaw (and tongue) and keeps your airway clear.
If you have severe sleep apnea, you may be prescribed a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. It sits next to your bed and pumps air into a mask that covers your nose and mouth while you sleep. The pressure of the air keeps your throat open so you don’t stop breathing.
It can be a lifesaver, but it also has drawbacks. You have to wear a mask every night, and looking like Darth Vader can be a bit of a passion killer too.
Women usually have slightly different symptoms – fatigue, headaches or restless legs. file image
When nothing else works, there’s uvulopalatopharyngoplasty—a surgery that burns or cuts away tissue in your throat to try to remove the obstruction. It comes with risks, recovery is painful and not always effective.
However, there is another hope on the horizon. In a study published last December in the journal Chest, researchers tested a nasal spray containing an agent believed to prevent the upper airway from collapsing during sleep.
They found that it was much more effective at keeping patients’ airways open compared to a placebo.
The next step is larger studies, but it’s an exciting possibility for the millions who suffer from sleep apnea — if not silently.
Tennis players have a right to moan
Lately I’ve started moaning and grunting when I get up from a chair. It’s not that it takes a lot of effort, it’s just something I unconsciously started.
So I started looking at the research to find out why this might be.
One theory I’ve come across is that grunting helps prepare you for the effort of standing up. A small study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that tennis players’ serve power and speed increased when they were allowed to grunt. Alternatively, grunting may simply be an unconscious expression of frustration that you can no longer effortlessly do something you once took for granted (eg get up from a chair).
If you’re grumpy and embarrassed about it, I’ve been told that one way to reduce the noise is to take a few slow, deep breaths before you get up.
Or you can just ignore it, because probably everyone you know is grunting or moaning too.
Having a pet can prevent egg allergy
I love cats and dogs and as anyone who has one knows, petting and companionship can improve mood and reduce stress.
In fact, a recent Ohio State University study found that neighborhoods with more dogs had fewer robberies and assaults. Research now shows that living with cats and dogs reduces the risk of children developing food allergies.
Allergic conditions – asthma, eczema, hay fever – and food allergies are caused by your immune system overreacting and treating harmless substances like pollen, nuts or eggs as dangerous threats.
Research shows that living with cats and dogs reduces the risk of children developing food allergies. file image
Previous research has shown that children raised on a farm are less likely to develop allergic diseases, probably because living on a farm exposes them to many microbes, which help their immune systems to act. Now, a study published in PLOS One shows that children experience similar benefits from growing up with cats and dogs.
Researchers in Japan studied more than 65,000 children and found that those who had cats or dogs at home when they were young were less likely to have food allergies by age three.
Owning a dog reduces the risk of developing egg, milk and nut allergies; whereas cat ownership resulted in significantly fewer allergies to eggs, wheat and soybeans, although it is not clear why this difference exists.
Another reason to love our canine and feline friends.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
