Nothing beats a good night's sleep but more women are having a hard time getting one. A recent National Sleep Foundation poll finds that 64 percent of women say they frequently have a sleep problem and 43 percent say daytime sleepiness interferes with activities.

One culprit is sleep apnea but April's Health Check has some encouraging news for sufferers.

Just running errands caused big problems for Sandy Haacke. The sound of a turn signal could lull her to sleep

She says, "When I was sitting at a stoplight I'd doze off a couple of times, you know. That's scary."

Enough so that Haacke and her doctor decided she should have a sleep study at Alegent Midlands Hospital.

Sandy says, "I was tired all the time. I had headaches 24 hours a day. I'd go to sleep with one and I'd wake up with one. I was lifeless."

An overnight visit translated into 900 pages of data and gave Dr. Harvey Hopkins a clear reason why Haacke was so tired.

Haacke has severe sleep apnea. An upper airway blockage stopped her breathing 42 times an hour during the sleep study, waking up Haacke at night and making her sleepy during the day.

That wasn't the only concern.

Dr. Hopkins, the Medical Director of the Alegent Sleep Center says, "There's increasing evidence that untreated obstructive sleep apnea increases your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke."

The vast majority of people with sleep apnea are going to find relief with a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), a special device attached to a mask that goes over the sufferer's nose. They wear it every single night. What it does is prevent the throat from collapsing.

For Sandy, it made all the difference.

"I love it," she says. "I couldn't be without it. I have more energy. I want to do more things."

Twenty percent of people with sleep apnea cannot tolerate the CPAP. Other options include surgery, an oral appliance similar to a mouth guard and sometimes losing weight.

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