Being a mom can be as rewarding as it is difficult.  With all the joy comes challenges, such as not getting enough sleep.  According to the National Sleep Foundation, 90% of parents believe that sleep is very important in their lives for their own wellbeing and that of their family.  But how many moms are getting enough sleep?

When we think about the typical sleep apnea patient, we often picture a heavyset man over forty years old with a thick neck and an earth-rattling snore. And while this image often does fit the profile of a sleep apnea patient, it by no means represents a complete picture of the demographic of sleep apnea sufferers.

Contrary to popular belief, sleep apnea patients come in all shapes, sizes, races, genders, and can even have symptoms atypical of those common for sleep apnea. For instance, not all sleep apnea sufferers snore, many are not obese or even overweight, and not all of them are male.

Here we discuss the prevalence of sleep apnea in women and why they are often an under-diagnosed and under-served population suffering from this sleep disorder.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, there are ocular signs that an Ophthalmologist can see which could indicate that you have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). 

As we know, OSA can be a deadly health disorder where during sleep your breathing stops periodically during the night. These lapses in breathing can occur for up to ten seconds or more and can happen hundreds of times a night. 

OSA appears to be an aggravating factor in the following 5 ocular complications:

No one needs to tell you twice – when you’re pregnant, you’re tired.  All the time.  And there’s no better time to justify hitting the snooze button one or five more times. 

Dreams can be a powerful influencer over our daily lives and a fascinating subject to study.  The impact and meaning of dreams have even been analyzed for centuries by ancient civilizations.  The Romans would translate their dreams as messages from the gods, and would debate dream subjects in the senate.  The Greeks would purify themselves before sleeping in the temples to receive untainted messages from the gods.  But the Assyrians would interpret their dreams as signs, whether a forewarning of things about to go wrong or as advice to follow. 

Nearly six months after the death of Carrie Fisher, the official coronary ruling was released.  The cause? Sleep apnea, along with other undetermined factors. 

Snoring is a condition that affects approximately 90 million Americans. According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, one-third to half of those that snore could be suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is a serious sleep disorder that needs to be treated.

Like most moms-to-be, you are probably suffering from uncomfortable restless nights and sleep deprivation and you haven’t even had the baby yet!   As if nausea, chronic back pain, fetal movement, and frequent trips to the bathroom weren't discomforting enough, many women even develop sleep disorders while pregnant including insomnia, restless leg syndrome, nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and excessive daytime sleepiness.

One of the greatest problems in generating awareness for sleep apnea is that all too often people have a preconceived notion of what a typical sleep apnea patient looks like. When most people think about a patient suffering from sleep apnea, an image of a middle-aged overweight male comes to mind.
And while this image can be fairly accurate in many cases, it is by no means a full representation of all those who could potentially be afflicted with sleep apnea. Many women suffering from sleep apnea get diagnosed with insomnia rather than sleep apnea due to this misconception.

And worse, many children with sleep apnea are instead diagnosed with other disorders including ADHD because they don't fit the typical patient profile.

Previously we discussed how not all patients with sleep apnea fit the typical profile of someone suffering from the sleep disorder. The notion that mostly middle aged, overweight men are the ones likely to develop sleep apnea is a misconception that often leads to misdiagnosis in atypical patients with sleep apnea.

And while it's true that heavyset men over the age of 40 are the highest "at risk" group for having sleep apnea, it by no means is a comprehensive representation of all sleep apnea sufferers.

For example, women with sleep apnea are often mistreated for other sleep disorders such as insomnia because many general practitioners hold tight to the belief that women aren't as likely to have sleep apnea as men.

Here we hope to shed light on how age plays a role in the development of sleep apnea, and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments that my differ based on a patient's age.