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Below is another guest blog post.  One clarification I would like to make to the guest articleby Alex Smith is that the increased frequency of night-time urination seen with OSA is often due to increased urine production (for an explanation, seehttp://www.thoracicandsleep.com.au/latest-news/115-obstructive-sleep-apnoea-osa-and-urinating-at-night )Michael Rack, MD-----------------------------------------------------------------Doctors and patients alike are beginning to realize that sleep apnea in women is more common than previously thought. Men remain statistically more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but instead of a ten-to-one ratio of men to women, it ’s now thought to be three- or four-to-one. At the same time, women also remain more likely to have sleep apnea misdiagnosed as something else, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, depression or simple insomnia. OSA occurs when the soft tissues of the throat and at the back of the mouth become overly relaxed at night, to the point where one ’s airflow is blocked upon breathing in. This results in a few seconds of not breathing, which may be evidenced by snoring or gasping for breath during one’s sleep, followed by daytime sleepiness. Though women with OSA may have these signs, they seem to appear more often in men. Women with sleep apnea may notice their mouths being very dry in the morning. They may also begin to wake up more often during the night with the need to urinate. T...
Source: sleepdoctor - Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: blogs