55歲及以上打鼾女性患睡眠呼吸暫停的風險更高

以色列特拉維夫大學一項新研究發現，55歲及以上打鼾女性患睡眠呼吸暫停的風險更高。研究結果發表在《臨床醫學雜誌》上。

研究人員對數百名女性展開醫學調查，對照分析了年齡在20歲至40歲未絕經女性和55歲及以上的絕經女性。經綜合多項指標加權計算后發現，後者中15%有明顯的睡眠呼吸暫停風險，而前者中存在這一風險的比例僅為3.5%。此外，他們還發現，打鼾女性中11%有睡眠呼吸暫停風險，而不打鼾女性中存在這一風險的比例僅為1%。

研究認為，50歲以上的女性由於更年期激素水平變化，更容易出現睡眠呼吸障礙。從輕微的打鼾到最嚴重的睡眠呼吸暫停，都屬於睡眠呼吸障礙範疇，會導致人體血液中氧氣濃度下降甚至有生命危險。

主要研究人員之一、特拉維夫大學醫學教授伊拉娜·埃莉表示，女性往往不願承認自己打鼾，但打鼾提供了睡眠呼吸情況的重要醫學信號。睡眠呼吸紊亂如果得不到及時診療，可能導致多種系統性疾病併發，如中風、高血壓等。

研究還指出，夜間磨牙、高身體質量指數（BMI）和相對較大的頸圍也是警告信號。

Women over 55 who snore face an elevated risk of sleep apneaBecause snoring occurs during sleep, women who suffer from sleep-disordered breathing may not be aware that they are at an increased risk for sleep apnea.By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Published: MAY 14, 2022 03:48

Updated: MAY 15, 2022 16:26

A woman sleeps

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

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Women aged 55 and over who snore are at increased risk for sleep apnea, which can be fatal, a new study from Tel Aviv University found.

Who is most at risk?In most cases, because snoring occurs during sleep, women who suffer from sleep-disordered breathing may not even be aware that they are suffering from some problem that puts them at an increased risk for sleep apnea.

The study, conducted by Dr. Alona Emodi-Perlman, Prof. Ilana Eli, Dr. Jawan Sleiman and Dr. Pessia Friedman-Rubin from the Department of Oral Rehabilitation at the Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University, examined hundreds of Israeli women divided into two groups: pre-menopausal women aged 20–40 and post-menopausal women aged 55 and over.

Researchers found that about 15% of the older group are at significant risk for sleep apnea, compared to only about 3.5% of the younger group.

The study also found that 11% of the women who snore are at increased risk for sleep apnea – ten times more than the 1% who don』t snore.

What are sleep-breathing disorders?「Sleep-breathing disorders range across a broad spectrum – from mild snoring to the most severe and dangerous disorder – sleep apnea, which causes a decrease in blood oxygen concentration and can be life-threatening,」 Eli explained.

「If the phenomenon is not diagnosed and treated in time, it can contribute to the development of a variety of systemic diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease and stroke.」

Lack of diagnoses is mainly due to the lack of awareness and under-reporting, since women suffering from the problem do not know about it because it occurs during sleep.

While fatigue, headaches, masticatory muscle soreness upon waking or sleep problems like insomnia could be noticed by women suffering from the problem, these symptoms could be an indication of sleep apnea.

「The lack of early diagnosis is particularly noticeable in one of the target demographic groups: women over the age of 50, who suffer from an increase in the incidence of sleep-disordered breathing due to hormonal changes that occur during menopause,」 Eli said, adding that 「we wanted to examine and characterize the phenomenon in this group in order to raise a red flag when necessary.」