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Sleep Apnea –
CPAP Treatment helps Improve Heart Function
March 31st, 2006
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A recent study
being published in the upcoming April 4th issue of the Journal of the
American College of Cardiology found that patients with obstructive
sleep apnea had improvements with the heart’s ability to pump blood when
they used a CPAP machine during sleep. Many patients with obstructive
sleep apnea have enlarged and thickened heart abnormalities which reduce
the amount of blood it can pump.
"Not only are the
shape and size of the heart affected, the right side of the heart was
dilated and the heart muscle on the left side was thicker in patients
with obstructive sleep apnea, but the pump function was also reduced.
The changes were directly related to the severity of the problem.
Treating the problem brought significant improvements in the affected
parameters, as well as in symptoms, in a relatively short period of time
of six months," said Bharati Shivalkar, M.D., Ph.D. who is from the
University Hospital Antwerp located in Antwerp, Belgium.
Obstructive sleep
apnea (OSA) is caused by the throat closing up and either partially or
completely blocking breathing during sleep. It can cause a person to
wake up gasping for air and also to have them not get a good night
sleep. Because a person with OSA may not get a good night sleep they
are often tired during the daytime.
Many other health
problems are being associated with sleep apnea including, high blood
pressure and increase cardiovascular risks. A person with sleep apnea
is at a higher risk for a stroke, ischemia, arrhythmias and also sudden
death. There have also been other studies that are considering
metabolic syndrome and diabetes type 2 being linked to sleep apnea.
In this study,
there were 43 patients that had obstructive sleep apnea. Of the 43
patients 32 were men and 11 were women. These patients participated in
a sleep study that measured their breathing and also measured the size
and function of the heart. The researchers wanted to see how the
heart’s pumping ability would react differ with a patient before CPAP
treatment and after they used the equipment. As a control they had 40
participants that were healthy and did not show signs of sleep apnea
participate in the sleep studies.
What the
researchers found was the sleep apnea patients had enlarged hearts on
the right side and also had thickened walls in the heart between the
chambers where the heart pumps. The researchers also discovered that
the sleep apnea patients did not pump as much blood per beat and the
motion of the wall of the heart was slower when compared to the control
groups. The sleep apnea patients had higher blood pressure and their
hearts also beat faster than the control group. The study showed
patients with the worst the sleep apnea also had the most severe heart
problems.
After the initial
benchmark sleep tests were completed, the patients with sleep apnea were
given continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to sleep with
for a six month time period. The CPAP machine will keep the air passage
way from closing by blowing air through a mask into a person when they
are sleeping. The CPAP is a common treatment for obstructive sleep
apnea.
At the end of the
six months there were 25 patients that completed the study. These
patients were sleeping better at night, and were more alert during the
day. The patient’s hearts also had significant improvements too. They
improved on the size and shape as well as the hearts ability to pump
blood.
"From a
cardiovascular standpoint, OSA still remains an important
under-diagnosed and under-treated problem. Our study highlights that the
changes in the shape and function of the heart can be assessed quite
easily in a non-invasive manner and can alert the physician of impending
cardiac problems. Most importantly, treatment can cause substantial
improvement in a relatively short time. We hope that this paper will
contribute towards improved awareness of cardiovascular and general
physicians of a fairly common problem in the western society," Dr.
Shivalkar said.
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication
Books about
Sleep Apnea at Amazon
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