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Do you know the risks of sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea contributes to several serious health conditions, some of which can kill you. 

 

The quality of your sleep can have a tremendous impact on your body. Those with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) stop breathing many times throughout the night, which leads to a lack of oxygen in your body and an increase in your blood pressure.

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OSA and other Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) can cause or worsen the following:

High Blood Pressure

  • 50% of people with high blood pressure have sleep apnea. That number increases to 83% for those who are on multiple medications for high blood pressure.

  • When breathing stops, the oxygen levels in your blood decrease, which causes your blood pressure to increase. Increased blood pressure at night continues into the day.

  • Medications for high blood pressure may work for a while but over time more or different medications will be required if the source of the problem (the sleep disordered breathing) is not corrected.

  • The high blood pressure and the low oxygen levels in your body increase the work of your heart and causes damage to your arteries, increasing your risk of coronary artery disease (CAD).

  • Some people will go on to develop heart failure as a result of this breathing pattern.

  • Research has shown that treating sleep disordered breathing reduces death due to coronary artery disease.

Strokes and Heart Attacks

  • Almost 70% of people who have had a stroke have sleep apnea

  • Treatment of Sleep Disordered Breathing has been shown to reduce the incidence of repeat strokes

  • CAD is the most common type of heart disease in the United States and the #1 cause of death for both men and women.

  • With SDB, your risk of coronary artery disease and heart attack increase.

  • Treating sleep disordered breathing decreases the risk of new cardiac events.

  • People with untreated sleep apnea are 7 times more likely to suffer a stroke

  • 4.7 million people in the US have heart failure. Approximately 50% of these patients have SDB

  • It is estimated that about 50% of individuals who have cardiovascular disease also suffer from OSA

Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

  • 58% of patients with type 2 Diabetes have sleep apnea. This number increases to 86% in obese type 2 diabetic patients

  • 80% of all diabetes sufferers die of cardiovascular disease

  • People who have poor sleep habits are at greater risk for becoming overweight or obese and developing type 2 diabetes. Chronic sleep deprivation may lead to insulin resistance, which can result in high blood sugar and diabetes.

  • Chronic sleep deprivation can affect hormones that control appetite including leptin, which helps control the metabolism of carbohydrates. Low levels of leptin have been shown to increase the body's craving for carbohydrates regardless of the number of calories consumed.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

  • Those with sleep apnea is 2.5 times more likely to be the driver in a motor vehicle accident.

  • Treating OSA and SDB decrease this risk by 70%.

Other Risks

  • Mood: Daytime fatigue or drowsiness increases your risk of workplace accidents and cause you to feel quick-tempered, moody, and depressed.

  • Surgery: You are more likely to have complications during major surgery due to the inability to breathe when sedated or when laying on your back during recovery.

  • Liver Problems: You are more likely to have irregular results on liver function tests, and your liver is more likely to show signs of scarring, known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

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