How is sleep apnea linked to heart disease?
Heart Disease. One study shows that Sleep apnea increases an individual’s risk of heart failure by 140%. While studies are not certain about the mechanisms explaining this association, many think that the pressure changes cause stress on the heart because of decreased blood oxygen levels and increased inflammation.
What causes a person to have central sleep apnea?
Central sleep apnea can be caused by a number of conditions that affect the ability of your brainstem — which links your brain to your spinal cord and controls many functions such as heart rate and breathing — to control your breathing. The cause varies with the type of central sleep apnea you have. Types include:
What are the risks of having obstructive sleep apnea?
Having obstructive sleep apnea increases your risk of high blood pressure (hypertension). Obstructive sleep apnea might also increase your risk of recurrent heart attack, stroke and abnormal heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation.
How does sleep apnea affect your blood pressure?
Here’s why: Each time a person with sleep apnea stops breathing, the body’s oxygen level drops. The body reacts by producing epinephrine (also called adrenaline), a stress hormone. Over time, high adrenaline levels can contribute to high blood pressure.
How can sleep apnea lead to heart disease?
Sleep apnea, specifically obstructive sleep apnea, has been linked to heart disease. Apnea causes intermittent drops in oxygen levels during sleep. This chronic occurrence leads to thickening of blood vessel walls and places stress on the pumping heart. This stress increases the risk of future heart and vascular disease.
How does sleep apnea affect the heart?
Sleep apnea increases the stiffness and thickness of the heart. The pressure the heart is exposed to dramatically increases. The chemicals of stress in your body dramatically increase. The result is increased risk for rhythm disturbances of the heart, heart failure, heart attack, stroke and hypertensive injury to the kidney and other organs.
Does treating sleep apnea help the heart?
People with sleep apnea, especially those over 60, could decrease their risk of heart failure by using CPAP masks at night to help with breathing, according to new research. The study, published Friday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, explored the connection between heart failure and sleep apnea, a condition that goes beyond plain snoring.
Is sleep apnea linked with heart disease?
Sleep apnea has a direct link to high blood pressure, which is linked to strokes, heart attacks, heart disease, and multiple kinds of irregular heartbeat problems. When the body stops breathing during sleep, it causes a drop in the heart rate. Then when your body starts to breathe again, it startles you and causes a rapid increase in heart rate.