Women, Sleep Apnoea and Heart Health: More Connections

  • Posted in Sleep Apnoea
  •  By Loran Simon

heartWhat is the effect of sleep apnoea among women? We know that obstructive sleep apnoea is a sleep disorder with serious health consequences. Its consequences include high blood pressure, arrhythmia, heart attack and stroke. Also, sleep apnoea disrupts healthy glucose function and decreases insulin sensitivity, increasing risk for Type 2 diabetes.

Obstructive sleep apnoea can bring about poor quality sleep, frequent waking, decreased oxygen levels in the blood, and excessive daytime tiredness. An article from http://www.huffingtonpost.com has found out that sleep apnoea can also wreak havoc in women.

  • Women with OSA displayed greater impairment of heart rate response than men with OSA in sleep apnoea studies.

  • Women may be at particular risk for cardiovascular dysfunction as a result of sleep apnoea. The autonomic nervous system plays a role in regulating a range of important functions throughout the body, and effects of weakened autonomic responses can extend beyond the cardiovascular system, affecting the normal functioning of the brain and other organ systems.

  • Scientists at the University of California San Francisco examined the effects of sleep on inflammation linked to cardiovascular disease. Their study included both men and women, all of whom had been diagnosed with coronary heart disease. They found poor sleep quality strongly associated with elevated levels of unhealthy inflammation in women, but found no similar link in men.

  • In another study (2009) by researchers at Britain's University of Warwick and University of London, shorter periods of nightly sleep were associated with higher inflammation levels in women but not in men.

  • Women also may face elevated risk for hypertension as a result of poor sleep. Women who were found to have resistant hypertension were five times as likely to also experience poor sleep.

  • Some indications that women may have sleep apnoea include morning headaches, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, depression, fatigue and low energy.

Read more here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/sleep-apnoea_b_4372839.html

Image  Courtesy of cooldesign / freedigitalphotos.net

Somnowell Inventor - Visiting Professor Simon Ash FDS MSc MOrth BDS

Prof. Ash is the inventor of the highly successful SOMNOWELL Chrome device for snoring and sleep apnoea.

The Somnowell Chrome is made to exacting standards in the Somnowell laboratory under the supervision of Visiting Professor Simon Ash. Prof. Ash and his master technicians create each Somnowell Chrome device using their wealth of experience and expertise.

Prof. Ash works at the forefront of his profession. He is a Consultant and Specialist Orthodontist with over 30 years clinical experience, with a special interest in sleep related breathing disorders, TMJD, and bruxism. He currently works in Harley Street London and two private hospitals in London as part of a multi-disciplinary team managing snoring and sleep apnoea, and is Visiting Professor of Orthodontics at the BPP University.

The Somnowell mandibular advancement appliance is also recommended by:

  • Sleep Centres
  • ENT Surgeons, Sleep Physicians, Respiratory, Physicians
  • Orthodontists, Dentists
  • General Medical Practitioners
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