How Sleep Apnea Affects a Partner's Health

OSA is often referred to as a “men’s disease.” Being male, overweight, middle-aged, and with a thick neck circumference are some of the risk factors for this disease. Women can be affected by sleep apnea, too, but they are eight-times less likely to receive a diagnosis since women do not seem to follow the same thick neck circumference, overweight or being male pattern. Interesting note, up to 4% of children deal with sleep apnea. Due to their lack of deep sleep these children are commonly misdiagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

• One solution discovered by a snorer’s suffering spouse: the spouse goes to bed 45 minutes sooner than he does. Then the patient waits for the allotted time before coming to bed. This helps, but sometimes the snoring will still wake up his or her partner. 
• Another solution for a spouse is to put earbuds in when climbing into bed, turning on restful music, and trying to drift off to sleep. Sometimes this works, but it can leave them with a headache in the morning.