Obstructive sleep apnea impacts women differently. Here’s how—and why that matters.

The textbook symptoms of this condition—which, for the record, were determined based on studies mostly involving men—include loud snoring and dramatic gasps for air as a person tries to continue breathing while asleep. But this often isn’t the case for women, Dr. Shelgikar tells SELF. Instead, women with OSA are more likely to have nightmares, wake up multiple times a night, have trouble staying asleep, and deal with insomnia, which then causes symptoms like daytime fatigue, morning headaches, and mood swings. Women also have more hypopneas (shallow breaths with less oxygen flow), whereas men tend toward apneas (complete pauses in breathing). Read full article here.