Sleep Apnea Quickly Affects Health

Research on sleep apnea seems to be popular these days with published results on the subject coming out every month. Yet another study on sleep apnea and sleep-related breathing issues like snoring on health has been made and the results published recently.

It has been concluded that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been connected to silent strokes and development of brain lesions, depression, hypertension, blood vessel abnormalities, coronary diseases and stroke.  There have been reported of cases for hearing loss attributed to OSA. A revealing and highly disturbing fact was also concluded: there is a correlation between sleep apnea and dementia in older females and untreated OSA can cause death from heart complications in this gender group.

Obstructive sleep apnea has long been determined to increase stroke risk. The its effect on cerebral circulation and blood vessels has never been studied until researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, decided to find out.

The researchers said that they developed a method to bring about how sleep apnea affected experimental mice. The focus was on the blockage of the airways causing breathing pauses and the physiological effects of obstructive sleep apnea.  They then simulated this with humans.

They found out that after a month of induced apneas in mice, the cerebral vessel dilatory function was reduced by 22% and that the cerebrovascular function was functioning abnormally. This means that the blood vessels got affected and they no longer functioned the way they did before the apneas.

The researchers said that the testing method shows a clear and thorough effect of sleep apnea on people as well.  The one month period of moderate sleep apnea revealed a strong effect on the cerebrovascular function and in humans this can cause a stroke.  The study also supports other researches on the effect of arteries dysfunction and the risk of a stroke.

People who have sleep apnea should be made aware of the dangerous situation and that medical attention should be sought before any life threatening effects happen. Doctors should also be aware that damage to the vascular walls in brain arteries can occur with patients with OSA leading to strokes.

Since there are more and more people who have sleep apnea, studies like the one mentioned here allow doctors and scientists to have a better understanding of OSA effects. Once understood, remedies and treatments can be developed to prevent deaths and other complications.

Sleep apnea affects18 million Americans and 85% of people have not been diagnosed as to having the condition and thus do not have access to treatment.

Sleep disorders are now common and people should be cognizant of sleep health problems and their symptoms. Sleep apnea symptoms include insomnia, waking at the middle of the night, daytime sleepiness, poor memory, and mood swings, chronic snoring, depression and decrease in motor activities. Once these symptoms are apparent then do not waste time and see a doctor immediately.