Treating Sleep Apnea May Help Your Heart
Those who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more prone to hypertension and heart problems. Two recent studies concluded that when OSA is treated the risk for the mentioned diseases will be minimized. It was concluded in one of the studies that people who slept with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment had low incidence of developing hypertension. The other study had similar findings. Those who slept with CPAP for 4 hours per night also had high blood pressure risk. All studies were published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Obstructive sleep apnea happens when the airways is blocked or narrowed down when sleeping which then leads to breathing stoppage. The pauses in breathing can be from a few times to more than a hundred per night. The use of a CPAP machine allows air to be forced through the nose due to the mask worn while asleep.
Sleep specialist Vishesh K. Kapur, MD stated that it is a known fact that obstructive sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure as well as that CPAP is used for the lessening of blood pressure. He said that now we can be sure that treatment of OSA using a CPAP machine is now validated and making this available to people who do not have access to it.
Sleep apnea is often undiagnosed. In the US, 1 out of 5 adults have this disorder but only 10% are said to have been diagnosed by a doctor. CPAP has been known to increase the quality of life and avert daytime sleepiness. Compliance is an issue for this kind of treatment because most patients feel discomfort when wearing a mask to sleep.
Researchers from Lleida, Spain’s Institut de Recerca Biomedica, recruited 700 patients with sleep apnea. 50% were asked to use the CPAP machine when they go to sleep. After 4 years, those treated with CPAP showed low incidence of stroke, high blood pressure and other heart-related medical issues. However, they found out also that the difference between those with CPAP and without CPAP treatment were not significant. They did admit that the study was not long enough nor it had more participants as a base study. The use of CPAP for more than 4 hours nightly did show lower blood pressure readings. It is seen here that observance of the CPAP treatment can greatly help.
Another study composing of almost 1,900 sleep apnea sufferers that did not have hypertension were monitored for 11 years on average. This was made by researchers from Zaragoza, Spain's, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet. They found that those who were asked to undergo CPAP treatment but refused had two times the risk for developing high blood pressure than those who did not have sleep apnea. These patients had 80% risk.
Sleep specialist Yosef P. Krespi, MD, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says that compliance to the CPAP treatment could be made better if doctors would explain the right way of using the CPAP. He said that 50% would abandon the therapy.
CPAP therapy is known to be one of the most effective treatment methods for obstructive sleep apnea.
