Sleep apnea is fraught with very sad consequences: can it be avoided
American scientists have found that sleep apnea (a condition characterized by a cessation of pulmonary ventilation during sleep for more than 10 seconds) significantly increases the risk of stroke. A Stanford University study shows that people with a common sleep disorder are five times more likely to develop atrial fibrillation.
Snoring loudly and feeling tired, even after a good night's sleep, can increase your risk of stroke, according to a new study.< /p>
Hundreds of millions of people around the world suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder whose symptoms include stopping and starting breathing, snorting, waking up frequently, and snoring loudly. Many people have this disease, but it is not diagnosed, writes The Guardian.
The disease is already known to increase the risk of serious health problems such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and depression. Now, American researchers have found more evidence of its effect on the heart.
Sleep apnea, they say, significantly increases the risk of atrial fibrillation and stroke.
The results are being discussed by doctors this weekend at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, the world's largest cardiology conference.
In two studies involving experts from Stanford University, about 1.7 million people aged 20 to 50 took part in a decade. They found that people with sleep apnea were five times more likely to develop atrial fibrillation and 60% more likely to have a stroke later in life.
Sanjeev Narayan, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford and author of the study, said: “We found that the risk of stroke increases by 60% if you have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is really common, but we kind of ignore it because we think it's a trifle or just an inconvenience. So far, no one has actually demonstrated the extent of the risk. This is what really surprised us. And this is also in relatively young people. People who, if they had a stroke, would destroy young families. This can take them away from work. It will ruin their lives for the next 40 years.”
Sleep apnea occurs when your airways become too narrow during sleep. It prevents people from breathing properly. Its causes are not always clear, but it has been linked to factors such as obesity, a large neck, smoking and drinking, and sleeping on your back.
Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition that causes irregular and often abnormal a fast heart rate.
The normal heart rate should be between 60 and 100 beats per minute when you are resting.
Professor Narayan notes: “When you can’t breathe, the pressure in your lungs rises until you end up waking up out of breath. This puts pressure on the heart, which stretches the heart chambers and can cause atrial fibrillation. Another theory could be that oxygen levels in the blood drop for tens of seconds, and this can put stress on the heart.”
Sometimes sleep apnea can be treated with lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, not eating smoking and reducing the amount of alcohol consumed.