Many people suffer with OSA, and having the sleep disorder increases your risk of hypertension, arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, stroke, sudden cardiac death and heart failure. According to Dr Mincu, ‘There are not enough studies in the medical literature on early cardiovascular dysfunction in patients with OSA, when active steps can be taken to prevent progression to heart failure.’ She also explained the link of OSA to diabetes: ‘Because OSA leads to so many cardiovascular disorders, we compared early cardiovascular dysfunction in OSA patients and patients with diabetes mellitus, which is a typical risk factor for cardiovascular disease.’
For the study, the team looked at the endothelial and arterial function in 20 patients with moderate to severe OSA but no diabetes, 20 patients with treated type 2 diabetes mellitus and 20 healthy controls. All participants were matched for age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors. The results were that ‘Patients with moderate to severe OSA had endothelial dysfunction and higher arterial stiffness than controls, and their results were similar to patients with diabetes mellitus. This suggests that OSA is associated with a high risk for cardiovascular disease,’ Dr Mincu explained.
So what does this mean for you? Mincu urged that ‘Patients should realise that behind snoring there can be a serious cardiac pathology and they should get referred to a sleep specialist. If they are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea, they are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and need to adopt a heart healthy lifestyle to reduce that risk.’ She advised that ‘Although OSA treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is inconvenient – it requires sleeping with a mask – patients should use it because it can reverse the parameters measured in our study.’
‘Our study is a signal for cardiologists, pneumologists and general practitioners to work together to actively diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea, administer the appropriate treatment (CPAP) and assess arterial function,’ Dr Mincu concluded. ‘This will help avoid progression of early cardiovascular dysfunction through to heart failure, the final stage of heart disease.’