Women may show different symptoms than men and their obstructive sleep apnea may be diagnosed less often even in Beverly Hills. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder that causes people to stop breathing during sleep. Loud snoring, gasping for breath and daytime fatigue are common symptoms that suggest screening patients for OSA.
Obstructive sleep apnea has severe health consequences and greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Most women don’t realize that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women in America so diagnosing and treating a risk factor like obstructive sleep apnea is vital to their well being.
Patients with OSA often don’t seek diagnosis. They are not aware that they snore, gasp and stop breathing during sleep and may only seek help when a bed partner complains about the noise keeping them up at night. Women may be diagnosed less frequently because daytime sleepiness is a key symptom that men report much more frequently than women. It is more common for breathing problems to keep women from falling asleep or staying asleep.
Treating obstructive sleep apnea usually involves sleeping with a CPAP machine which pumps air through a mask allowing the sleeper to breath all night. Unfortunately this treatment is not well tolerated by many patients. The suggested treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea is an oral appliance made by your specially trained Beverly Hills sleep medicine dentist. The oral appliance is worn in the mouth at night and helps hold the jaw in a position that keeps the airway open allowing a full night of breathing and sleep.
Ladies, if snoring, tiredness and weight gain are a problem please contact Dr. David Frey at 310-276-4537 today to schedule your consultation and discuss diagnosis and treatment options.
