Snoring is more common in postmenopausal women due to hormonal deficiencies, according to a study.
About one in 20 postmenopausal women suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes the airways to collapse.
It causes a loud snoring that can wake up patients up to 40 times a night.
Now, researchers in Norway have discovered that there is not enough estrogen and progesterone.
These are the hormones that are replaced when women have HRT, increasing the hope that it can also help with snoring and sleep apnea.
But across the UK, tens of thousands of women for whom HRT is a lifeline are struggling to get their menopausal medicines due to supply shortages.
Pharmacists have been approved to prescribe alternatives to out-of-stock treatment last month amid a cry for scarcity.
The researchers examined 774 women who received a sleep questionnaire to determine if they could have obstructive sleep apnea.
Researchers at the University of Bergen, 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 irregular breathing, wheezing, or snoring that bothered other people during the previous 12 months.
Blood tests showed that if women could double the amount of a type of estrogen called estrone in their body, they would be 19% less likely to have suspected obstructive sleep apnea.
WHAT IS SOM OBSTRUCTIVE APNEA?
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS) occurs when the walls of a person’s throat relax and tighten during sleep, blocking their airways.
This interrupts normal breathing, with symptoms that include loud snoring, noisy and difficult breathing, and repeated episodes when breathing is interrupted by shortness of breath and shortness of breath.
OSAS affects between four and 10% of people in the UK. In the US, about 22 million are affected.
During one episode, the lack of oxygen causes a patient’s brain to wake him from a deep sleep so that his airways can reopen.
These repeated sleep interruptions can make the person feel very tired, and they are often unaware of the problem.
Risks to OSAS include:
- Being overweight: Excess body fat increases most of the soft tissue in the neck
- Being masculine
- Be 40 years old or older
- Have a big neck
- Drink excessive amounts of alcohol
- Being Menopausal: Hormonal changes cause your 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 closure by providing a continuous supply of compressed air through a mask.
A mandibular advancement device (MAD) can also be used, which is like a gum protector that keeps the jaw and tongue forward to increase space in the back of the throat.
Without treatment, AOS increases a person’s risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, and type 2 diabetes.
Source: NHS
If they could double the amount of progesterone, they would be nine percent less likely to get the disease.
There is still limited evidence to suggest that HRT may reduce the risk of developing the disease, so more research is needed.
But Dr. Kai Triebner, lead author of the study at the University of Bergen, said: “This study is exciting because it suggests that HRT could be a solution for women who suffer from snoring and sleep apnea due to menopause.
“It’s 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 night sickness and sweating, and help with potentially more serious effects such as osteoporosis, and could now help many women who have very difficult snoring and struggle to breathe. at night. .’
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, looked at women between the ages of 40 and 67 from seven different countries who took part in a European health survey.
Of the 774 postmenopausal women surveyed, nearly three-quarters, or 551, were snoring.
These women were asked three additional questions about the previous 12 months to judge whether they might have obstructive sleep apnea, which becomes more common and severe in postmenopausal women.
They fell into this category if they said that they always or often woke up with a feeling of suffocation or not being able to breathe.
They also rated if they had been told that they often or always stopped breathing or breathed irregularly when they slept, or if they were told that they always or often snored so loudly that they bothered others.
The researchers did not directly compare women’s estrogen or progesterone levels, which drop sharply after menopause, causing many of the unpleasant symptoms.
But their results suggest that doubling estrogen-like estrogen is linked to a fifth lower risk of sleep apnea, and a doubling of progesterone reduces the chance of getting the disease by nine percent.
This was even the case considering factors such as women’s weight and whether they smoked, which increase the risk of sleep apnea and snoring.
Researchers suggest that a drop in hormones after menopause could cause women to gain weight in certain parts of the body, which can increase the risk of sleep apnea, through fat deposits in the throat narrowing the airways. .
Among snores, doubling the blood level of three types of estrogen was associated with a 23% lower chance of women being told to breathe irregularly during sleep.
Duplication of progesterone, among snores, was associated with a 12% lower chance of women waking up with a feeling of suffocation the previous year.
Erla Sigurðardottir, lead author of the study from the University of Iceland, said: “In this study, higher female sex hormones were associated with a lower chance of reporting sleep apnea symptoms.
“More research is needed to understand this and whether post-menopausal HRT could reduce the symptoms of this worrying condition.”