WHEN BREATHING STOPS...
When Breathing Stops...
So, what happens when breathing stops?
- After breath has stopped for 10 to 60 seconds or more you are aroused from deep sleep to prompt breathing to resume
- Your oxygen levels drop
- Once you return to deep sleep, another event will likely occur and the cycle will continue throughout the night
- Depending on severity, these events can happen hundreds of times per night
- During an event the heart is stressed from the decreased oxygen as well as from the sudden awakenings
Untreated OSA Risk
- Untreated sleep apnea more than doubles the chances of developing or suffering from numerous health conditions. This includes coronary artery disease, stroke, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia and type 2 diabetes.
- Everyone, including the famous, can fall victim to sleep apnea; the deaths of both Reggie White (NFL athlete) and John Candy (Canadian comedian) were both caused by sleep apnea. Reggie White was unable to use a CPAP due to being claustrophobic (it is believed be passed away in his sleep from untreated OSA). John Candy died from a heart attack believed to be caused by the sleep apnea he suffered from during most of his adult life.
Blood pressure goes up…
- Blood pressure doesn't go down once an episode is over, it continues to be high throughout the day.
- While medications can lower blood pressure, if the underlying cause isn't corrected, they'll either stop working or a changes in medication will be necessary.
- High blood pressure in combination with low oxygen levels put stress on the heart. This can cause damage to arteries, increasing the likelihood for coronary artery disease.
Hypertension
- Studies show sleep apnea alone can be a risk factor for hypertension (high blood pressure).
- The correlation is so strong that 30-83% of hypertension patients also have sleep apnea.
- Studies also show the prevalence of hypertension among sleep apnea patients. More than 40% with mild sleep apnea and more than 60% with severe sleep apnea suffer from hypertension.
- American Heart Association guidelines on drug-resistant hypertension have shown treatment of sleep apnea likely to improve blood pressure control.
- There is a high occurrence of undiagnosed sleep apnea among patients suffering from drug-resistant hypertension (more than 75%). Studies have shown once treatment for sleep apnea starts, hypertension is easier to control.
You develop Coronary Artery Disease…
- Apnea events damage the arteries and deprive the heart of oxygen.
- Coronary artery disease restricts blood flow and therefore oxygen to the heart.
- Untreated coronary artery disease (CAD) will lead to coronary heart disease (CHD) and ultimately to a heart attack due to a completely blocked artery.
- Research has shown that treating sleep apnea reduces death due to coronary artery disease.
Coronary Artery Disease, Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Attacks
- If left untreated CAD will lead to CHD and ultimately a heart attack.
- The #1 cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women is CHD.
- Untreated sleep apnea (and other sleep disorders) increase the risk of CAD, CHD and a heart attack.
- 70% heart attack victims have or had sleep apnea.
- Treating sleep apnea decreases the risk of cardiac events.
Arrhythmia (Irregular Heart Rhythm)
- Cardiac arrhythmia refers to any abnormality of the heartbeat (too slow, too fast or irregular).
- Arrythmias are one of the leading causes of nocturnal sudden cardiac death among patients with untreated sleep apnea.
- There are numerous ways untreated sleep apnea has been shown to cause arrhythmia. These include lowered oxygen levels (hypoxia) during apnea events, abnormal levels of carbon dioxide levels and more.
You develop congestive heart failure…
- Heart failure (also referred to as congestive heart failure) is a chronic condition where your heart muscles no longer pump blood as well as they should.
- Untreated sleep apnea can contribute to the development of congestive heart failure.
- A handful of complications appear once congestive heart failure has developed including pauses in breathing not caused by sleep apnea.
- In the US over 5 million adults have heart failure.
- Approximately 76% these adults have some form of a sleep disordered breathing.
Stroke…
- Strokes occur when an artery that feeds oxygen to the brain is blocked or ruptures.
- Untreated sleep apnea can increase the risk of a stroke.
- Once treatment starts, the risk decreases for one happening as well as the incidence of repeat strokes.
- Over 60% of stroke patients have sleep disordered breathing.
- Up to 70% of patients in rehabilitation therapy caused by a stroke have moderate to severe sleep disordered breathing.
- Untreated sleep apnea can increase the occurrence of a stroke by 7 times.
Diabetes
- Studies indicate undiagnosed sleep apnea can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by over 20%.
- The cause is believed to be in the fluctuation of oxygen saturation levels. When the levels drop below 90% for as little as 3% of the total sleep time, the risk for insulin resistance (as well as cardiac events) increase.
- There is also a general connection between the two conditions with more than 40% of type 2 diabetes patients also suffering from sleep apnea.
- A combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes increases the risk of sleep apnea. A wopping 86% patient with both conditions also suffer from sleep apnea.
Possible effect of your sleep disorder on you & your bed partner
- Studies show people who have poor sleep habits and/or chronic sleep deprivation are at a greater risk for becoming overweight or obese and developing type 2 diabetes.
- A possible explanation is the affect sleeping can have on hormones that control appetite (leptin). Recent studies show a link between inadequate sleep and lower levels of leptin.
- Leptin helps control the metabolism of carbohydrates. Low levels can increase the body’s craving for carbohydrates regardless of the amount of calories consumed.
- One of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea, snoring, can keep a sufferers bed partner awake, therefore affecting their sleep quality and/or duration.
- With treatment, snoring should be reduced, allowing the sufferers bed partner to get an hour or more of sleep.