Snoring Can Become a Serious Problem

March 6, 2007 — -- Snoring is the stuff of sitcoms, sketch comedy and late nights tossing and turning between the sheets.

But it can also be a symptom of sleep apnea, a serious illness in which a person stops breathing while sleeping, sometimes hundreds of times a night.

Because it involves snoring, many women don't realize they might be at risk. But a new poll from the National Sleep Foundation found that as many as five out of every 100 women suffer from sleep apnea.

On "Good Morning America," Dr. Meir Kryger, who headed the poll, explained the condition and who should worry about it.

Kryger said people with sleep apnea repeatedly stop breathing while sleeping, every night and in every position. Sufferers may wake up with a sore throat or feel drowsy.

"What happens when you stop breathing is that your blood oxygen drops, so your brain has to wake up to start breathing again. That means a lot of patients go from awake to very light sleep, never getting into deep sleep," Kryger said. "You need deep sleep for restorative processes to occur, so you can feel refreshed and wide awake the next day."

Additional complications from low blood oxygen include high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm or stroke.

Snoring is usually thought to be a male problem, but Kryger said that's simply not true.

"We see sleep apnea in men and women of all age groups, including children. But it used to be believed that women never snored… in fact, somewhere around 30 percent do," he said. "The stereotype is that sleep apnea is a disease of overweight, middle-aged men, and that means that thousands of women have gone untreated."

Kryger explained that being overweight can lead to sleep apnea.

"People who are obese are much more likely to have it. Somewhere around 60 percent of the people in this country are overweight or obese, so they are at risk," he said.