Can sleep apnea cause high blood pressure?

Sudden drops in blood oxygen levels that occur during SLEEP apnea increase blood pressure and put pressure on the Having obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of having high blood pressure (hypertension). When you stop breathing periodically while you sleep, your body releases stress hormones. The American Heart Association explains that, with obstructive sleep apnea, these hormones can cause high blood pressure, strokes, and heart disease. As mentioned above, approximately half of people suffering from hypertension also have obstructive sleep apnea.

Hypertension doesn't cause sleep apnea, but there is a connection between the two. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a recognized cause of secondary hypertension. OSA episodes cause sudden increases in systolic and diastolic pressure that keep mean blood pressure levels elevated during the night. In many patients, blood pressure remains elevated during the day, when breathing is normal.

Factors contributing to this daytime pattern of hypertension include hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and alterations in vascular function and structure caused by oxidative stress and inflammation. Treatment of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) OSA eliminates apneas, thus preventing intermittent blood pressure rises and restoring the nighttime immersion pattern. CPAP treatment also has modest beneficial effects on blood pressure during the day. Because even small decreases in blood pressure can help reduce cardiovascular risk, screening for OSA is an essential element in evaluating patients with hypertension.

The results of the study showed that people with more than 30 breaks per hour of sleep were more than twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure than those who did not have pauses to breathe. Increased risk of high blood pressure was found even with moderate levels of sleep apnea. Because sleep apnea is more common in overweight people, who already have a higher risk of high blood pressure, additional statistical analysis was performed to monitor body weight and waist circumference. However, even after controlling for these variables, sleep apnea was associated with an increase in the frequency of high blood pressure.

Sleep apnea was detected by polysomnography, which simultaneously records brain waves, heart waves, blood oxygen levels, and respiratory rate while a person sleeps. This increases the pressure on the walls of the arteries and increases blood pressure more than if you were breathing normally while you sleep. Treatments for sleep apnea, including positional therapy, 24 oral appliances,25, 26 and bariatric surgery27, have been suggested to improve hypertension in patients with OSA. It has also been suggested that the apnea-hypopnea index is more closely associated with impaired function of resistance ducts and vessels in women than in men.

Sleep apnea, characterized by snoring and frequent pauses in breathing during sleep, is a relatively common condition, especially in people who are overweight. This brief review focuses on recent developments in the characteristics and treatment of hypertension associated with sleep apnea. The article reports that, in fact, untreated severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with high blood pressure, even when patients are being treated with an intensive hypertensive medication regimen. Central sleep apnea, on the other hand, is caused by a problem with brain signals that help control breathing.

A team of technicians visited each participant at home in the evening and measured blood pressure and weight, as well as other health parameters, and then connected the person to a sleep monitor. Since obstructive sleep apnea and high blood pressure have such a strong connection, a simple and free evaluation of a 10-minute sleep test may be the best thing you can do for your heart. The average number of respiratory pauses per hour of sleep was used to measure the degree of sleep apnea. .