Urgent warning to women over 50 who snore over silent killer

SNORING can be annoying for the person you share a bed with and you might not even know that you do it.

But experts have warned that it's worth finding out if you sound like a foghorn at night, especially if you're a woman over the age of 50.

It's a common condition and is not usually caused by anything serious.

Most people can change their snoring habits by losing weight and altering their sleeping position.

For some people though, snoring could mean you are at risk of sleep apnoea - which in rare cases, can be fatal.

Medics in Israel examined hundreds of women as part of the study published in the.

The women were divided into two age groups, pre-menopausal (aged 20-40) and post menopausal (aged 55 and over).

Experts said that 15 per cent of older women are at a significant risk for sleep apnoea.

This is compared to only 3.5 per cent of the women in the younger age group.

They also found that 11 per cent of the women who snore are at increased risk for sleep apnoea, compared to only one per cent of the women who do not snore.

Proffesor Ilana Eli, who helped conduct the study said: "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.

“We wanted to examine and characterise the phenomenon in this group in order to raise a red flag when necessary.”

As part of the study, subjects had to fill out questionnaires about their sleep habits.

They had to tell researchers how they felt when they woke up in the morning, if they grind their teeth at night and if they rise feeling tired or if they experience headaches.

Medics also took into account the weight of the participants, whether or not they had children and their marital status.

The experts said that those who have sleep apnoea can be at risk of fatal conditions such as strokes.

There are multiple different kinds of sleep apnoea, but the most common one is called obstructive sleep apnoea.

This is when throat muscles intermittently relax and block the airways when you're asleep.

Depending on the severity of the case, sometimes sleep apnoea may need to be treated with surgery.

They said that the women who had sleep apnoea, also suffered with other symptoms such as:

• fatigue
• headaches
• muscle soreness when waking up
• insomnia
• high BMI
• teeth grinding

Medics said that many women wont know they suffer with sleep apnoea, but that the above signs can be good indicators.

On the back of the research, the experts urged doctors to take note of symptoms that might indicate sleep apnoea.

"If you have identified a high-risk patient, refer her to a sleep diagnosis specialist.

"This way, we can diagnose women who are ‘under the radar’ due to lack of awareness and under-reporting and provide them with appropriate and life-saving care," they said.