To Sleep, Perchance to Dream. Although Sleep is Enough
As we learn more about different health conditions and how to take better care of ourselves, getting sufficient sleep always tops the list of things you can do to prevent and manage illness and lead a healthier life.
And yet a stunning 81% of us say that emotions, thoughts, and racing minds are keeping us awake at night according to Gallup’s State of Sleep in America 2022. We wish reading the report helped us sleep better - it didn’t. Our first look into sleep for you is understanding a little more about sleep apnea.
So our thoughts this week are to get some rest, stay out of the heat and stay mighty at any age!
- Maggie Ruvoldt & Stephanie Majercik
The Tasting Menu
Feeling Mighty During Menopause
Sleep Apnea - An Underdiagnosed Condition for Women
It’s Hot in the City (and the Country and at the Beach)
Feeling Mighty During Menopause
Anthropologist Margaret Mead said “There is no greater power in the world than the zest of a postmenopausal woman”. We think that extends back to perimenopause as well.
There are many positives to perimenopause and menopause. That’s right, amid the symptoms, there is an upside to this time in our lives. According to surveys women enjoy several aspects of these years:
Not caring as much about what other people think (This one is our favorite!)
Less pain related to our cycles including migraines, pelvic pain and PMS
The stabilizing of hormones can bring about less anxiety and more confidence
Bonding with other women going through menopause leads to greater happiness.
What can you do to embrace the changes that menopause brings?
Talk about it. Start a conversation with your friends, open up to your partner about what you're experiencing and talk to your healthcare provider.
Take control of your symptoms
Put the pause in menopause and spend time on you.
Refresh your social media feed. Here are some of our favorite follows on social media for menopause information and positivity
Sleep Apnea - An Underdiagnosed Condition for Women
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is generally categorized as a “male disease”, since most people diagnosed with OSA are men (more than half of the diagnoses that occur each year), but that doesn’t mean that women aren’t affected and don’t have to worry about additional risk factors.
OSA is considered “repetitive collapses of the upper airway during sleep”. AKA, you’re getting significantly less oxygen or none at all at multiple points during your sleep cycle. Here’s a couple of stats about OSA in women:
1 in 5 women have sleep apnea
9 in 10 women with sleep apnea don’t know they have it
Sleep apnea can lead to other health problems such as cardiovasular diseases, hypertension, asthma, cancers, eye disorders and metabolic conditions
Women are more likely to experience apneas during REM sleep
Contributing Factors to Underdiagnosis
Because apneas occur during REM sleep in women not only are we deprived of oxygen for longer, we have a tendency to wake up because of them, so we experience less of them overall. This contributes to underdiagnosis, because women don’t meet the minimum threshold of “apnea events” in a given night.
Further, one of the diagnostic scales for sleep apnea, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), has never been validated for use in women. And despite women reporting the same levels of daytime sleepiness as males, very few end up with an ESS score that’s greater than 10.
Risk Factors and Symptoms
So, if you’re concerned about sleep apnea - what should you look out for when it comes to risk factors or symptoms?
There are certain things that make you higher risk for OSA, including:
Overweight
PCOS
Hyperthyroidism
Family members with sleep apnea
Age and menopause - this is linked to hormone level changes during the menopause phase
Symptoms to look out for could occur at night or during the day. At night – snoring, trouble falling asleep or waking up frequently, and heartburn to name a few. During the daytime – depression, irritability, falling asleep at the wrong time/place, lacking energy, and being prone to accidents. The Society for Women’s Health Research has a checklist of these and other symptoms you can track and share with your doctor if you have concerns about sleep apnea.
It’s Hot in the City (and the Country and at the Beach)
City after city reported that July 2022 was the hottest on record. The trend is continuing into August. Good time for a refresh and a refresher on how to stay cool and spot heat-related illnesses. Also keep in mind that certain illnesses such as asthma, autoimmune illnesses, and skin conditions can worsen in the heat.
Three heat-related illnesses to keep your eye out for
Heat Cramps are muscle cramps and spasms after or during exercise in the heat. Take the time to cool down and rehydrate with a drink containing electrolytes. They shouldn’t last more than an hour. If you keep up the activity, you may be headed into heat exhaustion
Heat Exhaustion occurs when the body is struggling to cool itself after losing fluids and salt through sweating. If your skin is becoming pale and moist and you feel nauseous, have a headache, or are weak and anxious, you may be experiencing some of the symptoms of heat exhaustion. Using cooling clothes, hydration (again with electrolytes), and resting in a cool place are your first steps.
Heat Stroke is by far the most serious of the three. Your body can’t regulate its temperature anymore and can get dangerously high (106 degrees or more). If you see someone is disoriented, no longer sweating despite high temperatures, having difficulty breathing, or losing consciousness, they need immediate medical attention. Heat stroke can cause permanent damage to organs and body systems.
Ways to Cool Off When the Heat is Unavoidable Include:
Take in fluids that don’t have alcohol or caffeine. And lots of them, starting early in the day.
Apply ice or cool wet clothes to pulse points at your neck and wrists or put your feet in cool water.
Believe or not, eating heats you up as you digest. Having lower calorie meals with foods that have a high water content will combat the effect.
Sitali breathing is a yoga technique that cools you down.
Medical Term of the Week
When your doctor orders a sleep study, they may measure your Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI). That is the number of times there is a pause or insufficient breath per hour. It is used to determine the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
The Latest
It’s a start but only a start. President Biden signed an executive order directing Health and Human Services Secretary to guard abortion access and other health services (from New York Times)
A study into combining medical review and AI in reading of mammograms showed promising results in catching cancer by combining both reads of scans. (from MIT Technology Review)
A recent study found that 74% of women would have depleted their savings after 8 weeks of unpaid parental leave. Considering the limits on short-term disability, the recovery needed from birth, and the proven health benefits of supporting parental leave, we believe Paid Parental Leave is a health issue. (from Today.com)