A new study suggests that sleep disorder could prove fatal for people in middle age to age 70. In fact, it’s found out that it is related to higher risks for heart failure and heart disease. The research is published online July 12 in Circulation.

“The key here is that there is a lot of undiagnosed sleep apnea, and that, at least in men, it is associated with the development of coronary heart disease and heart failure. Only about 10 percent of sleep apnea cases are diagnosed, ” said Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, associate professor of medicine, Boston University School of Medicine.

According to background information in the study, sleep apnea sufferers awaken suddenly during the night struggling to breathe, often experiencing a shot of blood pressure- raising adrenaline. Most often, they go right back to sleep, unaware of what happened. But the awakenings are repeated, sometimes up to 30 times an hour, depriving the sufferer of vital oxygen and sound sleep.

The study found that men between 40 and 70 years of age who had severe sleep apnea were 68 percent more likely to develop heart disease, and 58 percent more likely to develop heart failure, than those without the condition. Increasing severity of sleep apnea was also associated with obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension and diabetes, all of which are known contributors to heart disease.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately 14 million Americans suffer from coronary heart disease, the most common cause of death in the United States

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Do you know that lack of sleep can be a BIG disaster when it comes to sex, relationships, and your social life? Here are some key findings about sex life and sleep problems such as snoring based on WebMD:

Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss put a serious ding into a sex life. No surprise there. When some partners resort to separate bedrooms due to snoring, sleep apnea, or restless sleep, that pretty much rules out any opportunity for spontaneous action.

Sleep loss can make you quarrelsome: you’ll be “feisty” in an irritable kind of way—not a sexy kind of way.

OSA may be associated with lower testosterone levels. A 2002 study of men at the Technion Sleep Laboratory in Israel found that nearly half of those who suffered from severe sleep apnea also secreted abnormally low levels of testosterone during the night.

The effects of sleep deprivation—low energy, fatigue, and sleepiness—won’t inspire sex. No surprise there either.

Men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), an inability to breathe properly during sleep, commonly report low libidos and sexual activity.

Sleep loss makes you less able to cope with life’s ups and downs. Sex can be a great stress reducer, but if you don’t have energy for it, then that reduces your opportunities to unwind.

People with insomnia are also less likely to engage in social activities. This doesn’t bode well for the single person looking to make an intimate connection.

A new study published in Journal Chest May 2010 issue reveals that obese children are much more likely to snore than normal weight children. Italian researchers compared 44 children with habitual snoring, 138 children with occasional snoring, and 627 children who did not snore. Of those children, 64 were obese, 121 were overweight, and 624 were normal weight.

The incidence of snoring among obese children was 12.5 percent, more than two times higher than that of overweight children (5.8 percent) and three times higher than that of normal weight children (4.6 percent).

The researchers also found that obese children were nearly twice as likely to have obstructive sleep apnea, a breathing-related sleep disorder, as overweight or normal weight children.

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