Some of the reasons women are under-diagnosed and misdiagnosed with sleep apnea may be:

·       Female patients talk to their general practitioner about their sleep problem instead of a sleep specialist.

      General practitioner has preconceived notions about what and how typical sleep apnea patient should be like. Example: male, overweight, snore loudly.

·       Female patients are less likely to report loud, chronic snoring.

·       

     Women’s symptoms are often different, NOT “classic”, and ambiguous

-snoring is usually much lighter

-breathing problems during sleep more subtle

·       Female patients report different symptoms than men that may lead to misdiagnosis of other disorders:

·       Some of the different, NOT “classic”, ambiguous symptoms:

-fatigue, insomnia, headaches, mood disturbances, anemia, hypochondria, hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, depression, and menopausal changes

Glendora Dentist, Dr. Anna Lee, is a trained dentist in Sleep Apnea.  Visit www.glendorasleep.com