By Sheilah Downey (sheilahd@foodconsumer.org)

Sleep apnea, a disorder that interrupts breathing patterns, may lead to increases in chronic diseases and death especially in men, according to a recent study.

About one in 10 women and one in four men suffer from sleep apnea, although most people are unaware they have the condition, according to the cohort study lead by Johns Hopkins University. The disorder mostly affects middle-aged and elderly people.

Researchers found that those with severe sleep apnea face a 46 percent greater risk of dying early than those without sleep breathing problems.

Men with severe sleep apnea, stated researchers, saw their risk of dying more than double and were also at greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

People with mild sleep apnea did not face a greater risk of premature death, stated researchers.

Sleep apnea is characterized by numerous breathing interruptions during sleep which can force those affected by it to awaken, struggling for breath.

The condition can cause several health problems including coronary artery disease which can lead to heart attacks, drowsiness during the day which can impair driving ability, and hypertension.

Researchers in the study followed 6,441 men and women, ages 40 to 70, for about eight years. This is the largest study of its kind to study sleep apnea and the risk of death.

Treatments for sleep apnea include lifestyle changes such as losing weight and stopping smoking.

For severe sleep-disordered breathing, doctors often recommend continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a machine that pressurizes the upper airway through a face mask to keep it open.

Results of the study were published in PLoS Medicine.