Waking Up At Night? Exhausted In The Morning? It Might Be Sleep Apnea

(Karen Robock/ Chatelaine Health) — If you snore, frequently wake up with a headache and would often describe yourself as dead tired, you could be experiencing sleep apnea. 

People with sleep apnea experience short pauses in their breathing while they sleep that can last from 10 to 30 seconds (or even longer) and this can happen dozens or even hundreds of times every night. This disrupted breathing often causes gasping and snoring, two telltale symptoms of sleep apnea. 

About 5.4 million Canadians live with the sleep disorder, characterized by interrupted breathing during sleep. “About 80 percent of people don’t even know they have it,” says Dr. Douglas Bradley, a respirologist and sleep physician at the University Health Network’s Centre for Sleep Health and Research in Toronto. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the common sleep condition—which is likely under-diagnosed in women. (…)