Understanding Sleep Apnea and Heart Disease

Understanding the link between sleep apnea and heart disease is important considering the significant increase of both ailments over the past few years. The connection between sleep apnea and heart disease is only recognized in recent decade and it is now considered one of the most monumental findings in medical science of the century.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing at certain points during sleep. It is a common disorder and can have a serious effect on health.

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. It occurs when insufficient air gets to the lungs through the mouth and nose due to obstruction of the airways. Thus, the amount of oxygen in the blood drops forcing the body to react. That is when normal breathing starts again, typically with a loud snort or choking noise.

The Link Between Sleep Apnea and Heart Disease

The link between sleep apnea and heart disease is such that sleep apnea is now considered one of the major underlying causes of heart disease. It is believed that obstructive sleep apnea causes hypertension, heart failure, stroke and ischemic heart disease. Recent research has also shown that obstructive sleep apnea patients with normal blood pressure are at risk of developing high blood pressure within four years.

Sleep apnea patients tend to have much higher levels of sympathetic nervous system activity during both wake and sleep. They also known to have much faster heart rates but at the same time they tend to have less variability in their heart rates overall.

When sleep apnea patients stop breathing during their sleep, their oxygen levels decrease and their carbon dioxide levels increase. This activates the sympathetic nervous system, and so when the apnea patient breathes in, their cardiac output increases while their blood pressure spikes up. This has serious implications as it disrupts the normal nighttime regulation of blood pressure and the sympathetic nervous system.

There are substantial researches on the link between sleep apnea and heart disease. Sleep apnea and heart disease connection is only one of many heart diseases. Hopefully, the researches will lead to better understanding and treatment of heart disease in the future.

Related articles

Facts about Heart Disease

Understanding What is Heart Disease

Facts about Cholesterol and Heart Disease

Link between Smoking and Coronary Heart Disease

The Link between Diabetes and Heart Disease

Exercise and Heart Disease

About Heart Disease and Stroke

Useful Information on Heart Disease

Connection between Premature Infants and Heart Disease

Understanding Sleep Apnea and Heart Disease

The Link Between Smoking and Heart Disease

Facts about Stress and Heart Disease

Implication of Heart Disease History

Heart disease in women

Heart Disease Research

Understanding Heart Disease Statistics