A study found that snoring is more common in postmenopausal women due to hormonal deficiencies.
About one in 20 postmenopausal women suffers from obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes airway collapse.
This leads to severe snoring, which can wake up sufferers up to 40 times a night.
Now researchers in Norway have found that not enough estrogen and progesterone are to blame.
These are the hormones that are replaced when women have HRT, which raises hopes that it can also help with snoring and sleep apnea.
But in the UK, tens of thousands of women for whom HRT is a lifeline are struggling to get their menopausal medicines due to a shortage of supplies.
Last month, pharmacists were given the green light to prescribe treatment alternatives without availability amid protests over the shortage.
Researchers looked at 774 women who received a sleep questionnaire to determine if they were likely to have obstructive sleep apnea.
Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway have found that snoring can be caused by low levels of estrogen or progesterone after menopause.
To meet the criteria, they had to snore and often had either irregular breathing, shortness of breath or snoring, which had bothered other people for the previous 12 months.
Blood tests showed that if women were able to double the amount of estrogen called estrone in their bodies, they would be 19% less likely to suspect obstructive sleep apnea.
WHAT IS OBSTRUCTIVE SPINAL APNEA?
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when a person’s throat walls relax and constrict during sleep, blocking their airway.
This interrupts normal breathing with symptoms including severe snoring, noisy and difficult breathing, and recurrent episodes when breathing is interrupted by shortness of breath and snoring.
OSA affects between four and 10 percent of people in the UK. In the United States, about 22 million are affected.
During an episode, the lack of oxygen triggers the sufferer’s brain to wake him from deep sleep so that his airway reopens.
These repetitive sleep interruptions can make a person very tired, and he often does not know what the problem is.
Risks to OSA include:
- Overweight – Excess body fat increases most of the soft tissues in the neck
- To be a man
- Be 40 or older
- With a large neck
- Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
- During menopause – hormonal changes cause the throat muscles to relax
Treatment includes lifestyle changes, such as losing weight if necessary, and avoiding alcohol.
In addition, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices prevent airway obstruction by delivering a continuous supply of compressed air through a mask.
A lower jaw advancing device (MAD) can also be used, which is like a gum shield that holds the jaw and tongue forward to increase the space in the back of the throat.
Untreated, OSA increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and type 2 diabetes.
Source: NHS
If they could double their progesterone, they would be nine percent less likely to have the condition.
There is still limited evidence to suggest that HRT may reduce the risk of the disease, so more research is needed.
But Dr Kai Tribner, senior author of the study at the University of Bergen, said: “This study is exciting because it suggests that HRT may be a solution for women suffering from snoring and sleep apnea due to menopause.
“This is important because sleep apnea is associated with serious conditions such as heart disease and stroke.
“We already know that HRT can improve the temporary symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and night sweats, and help with more serious potential effects such as osteoporosis, and now it can potentially help many women who have a hard time snoring and struggling. for breath at night. ‘
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, looked at women aged 40 to 67 from seven different countries participating in a European health study.
Among the 774 postmenopausal women examined, nearly three-quarters, or 551 of them, were snoring.
These women were asked three additional questions over the previous 12 months to assess whether they may have obstructive sleep apnea, which is becoming more common and severe in postmenopausal women.
They fall into this category if they say that they always or often wake up with a feeling of choking or cannot breathe.
They are also eligible if they are told that they often or always stop breathing or breathe unevenly when they sleep, or if they are told that they always or often snore so loudly that they disturb others.
Researchers do not directly compare estrogen or progesterone levels in women, which drop dramatically after menopause, causing many of the unpleasant symptoms.
But their results show that doubling estrogen-related estrogen is associated with a fifth lower risk of sleep apnea, and doubling progesterone reduces the risk of the disease by nine percent.
This was the case even when factors such as women’s weight and whether they smoked were taken into account, which increased the risk of sleep apnea and snoring.
Researchers have suggested that declining hormones after menopause can cause women to accumulate fat in certain parts of the body, which can increase the risk of sleep apnea through fat deposits in the throat that narrow the airways.
Among snorers, doubling blood levels of three types of estrogen is associated with a 23% lower chance of women being told they breathe unevenly during sleep.
The doubling of progesterone among snorers is associated with a 12% lower chance of women waking up with a choking sensation in the previous year.
Erla Sigurdardottir, lead author of the study from the University of Iceland, said: “Higher female sex hormones in this study are less likely to report symptoms of sleep apnea.
“More research is needed to understand this and whether postmenopausal HRT can reduce the symptoms of this anxiety condition.”
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