Women and Sleep Apnea

Typical Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) patients are usually men who are overweight and snore loudly with choking or gasping sounds at night.  There are over 20 million American adults suffer with OSA. While obstructive sleep apnea is more common in men, many women suffer from OSA as well.  Men are twice more likely to have sleep apnea than women, but men are diagnosed with the condition almost 8 times more often than women.   Are women with sleep apnea under-diagnosed and misdiagnosed? What are the symptoms and health risk factors of sleep apnea in women? What are the treatment options?

                  Under-diagnosis and misdiagnosis for women with sleep apnea

Women with sleep apnea are often diagnosed for other sleep disorders instead of sleep apnea. According to the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Specialist, Dr. Angie Randazzo, at St. Lukes Sleep Medicine & Research Center, “Women often don’t have the stereotypical body type and don’t always say they are sleepy.  Many will say they are fatigued, leading clinicians to think they have insomnia versus OSA.”

For more information on sleep apnea and women, contact Dr. Anna Lee and her team!