Hot flashes and night sweats may also prove troublesome. Another health problem that escalates as we grow older is sleep apnea. This is the disorder that causes breathing pauses during sleep, and is often accompanied by loud snoring. Although often thought of as a problem of older men, it is also prevalent among older women, especially after menopause. New research from Penn State College of Medicine has now proven that there is indeed a connection between sleep apnea and menopause, so yet another health worry exists.
Sleep apnea is a definite risk factor.
This is somehow related to the reduction of the female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, that occurs with the onset of menopause. The study, conducted by Edward O. Bixler, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Penn State, covered a five-year period and involved nearly 2000 women between the ages of 20 and 100. Postmenopausal women who did not use hormone replacement therapy developed sleep apnea at a rate five times greater than women who were on a hormone replacement plan. Therefore, women using hormonal replacement therapy have less chance of developing sleep apnea. There are risks involved in the use of hormone replacement therapy.