Health Concerns for Snoring Pregnant Women
I got bad news for the snoring pregnant women out there that have this problem. You’re at a much higher risk for developing gestational diabetes. Apparently this condition isn’t good for the mother nor the baby inside of you. That’s not to say there is a huge chance of you actually getting this. But if you look at the percentages, if you snore you’re probably around a 15% chance of getting it versus a 3% chance if you don’t. We’re talking about 5 times higher chance than normal, so that is something that you’ll want to keep in your mind if you’re a snoring pregnant woman.
Here is the article:
Pregnant women who snore are more likely to develop gestational diabetes – a condition than can cause health problems for the mother and baby.
The study from researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine also found that pregnancy increases the likelihood that a woman will snore.
To reach the conclusion, 189 healthy women completed a sleep survey at the time of enrollment (six to 20 weeks gestation) and in the third trimester.
Pregnant women who were frequent snorers had a 14.3 percent chance of developing gestational diabetes, while women who did not snore had a 3.3 percent chance. Even when researchers controlled for other factors that could contribute to gestational diabetes such as body mass index, age, race and ethnicity, frequent snoring was still associated with the disease.
Principal investigator Francesca Facco, M.D., a fellow at Northwestern’s Feinberg School, will present her findings at the SLEEP 2009 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
“Sleep disturbances during pregnancy may negatively affect your cardiovascular system or metabolism,” said Facco, who in August will become an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School and a maternal and fetal medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“Snoring may be a sign of poor air flow and diminished oxygenation during sleep that can cause a cascade of events in your body,” Facco said.
“This may activate your sympathetic nervous system, so your blood pressure rises at night. This can also provoke inflammatory and metabolic changes, increasing the risk of diabetes or poor sugar tolerance,” the expert added.