Healing leep

! century ago, the average !merican slept "#$% hours a night, with sleep cycles lin&ed to sundown and sunup. 'lectric We hope the warmth of the heart lights e(tended our )day,* while wor&, television, the Internet, focused month finds everyone well. and other distractions have chipped away at sleep. Today, we average +ust under , hours a night- about one.third of us This months newsletter contains ma&e do with / hours or fewer. articles indicating the impact that poor sleep can have on a 0ur bodies arent li&e cars or computers that wor& fine persons heart and overall health. whenever they are turned on. We have an internal cloc& that governs the bodys systems. 1ight helps set this cloc&. o Understanding the consequences does sleep. Too little of it can throw off the cloc& and disturb of an untreated sleep breathing the intricately timed release of hormones and other chemical disorder is crucial to living. The toll it can have on the heart signals, as well as cause fatigue and daytime drowsiness. is monumental. Uncoordinated hormonal signals, in turn, can affect many systems in the body. 2oor sleep has been lin&ed with high If you suspect that you or a loved may have a sleep breathing blood pressure, atherosclerosis 3cholesterol.clogged arteries4, heart failure, heart attac& and stro&e, diabetes, and obesity. disorder, please contact our office immediately for more information Inflammation may be a thread that ties these together. 2oor and help. sleep increases levels of 5.reactive protein, interleu&in./, tumor necrosis factor.alpha, and other substances that reflect active inflammation, the bodys response to in+ury, infection, irritation, or disease. It is a &ey player in heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. 2oor sleep also revs up the bodys sympathetic nervous system, which is activated by fright or stress.
3This article was first printed in the 6anuary 7%%, issue of the Harvard Heart 1etter. 8or more information or to order, please go to http9::www.health.harvard.edu:heart.4

There=s important news for people who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea and sleep. disordered breathing9 new research has shown 0 ! may increase the ris& of sudden This article originally appeared in the cardiac death. ! large.scale study of more than $%,%%% adults over a period of $C years ummer 7%%E issue of sleepmatters. found obstructive sleep apnea associated with a significantly increased ris& of sudden cardiac death. What is the connection between sleep apnea ?esearchers studied $%,,%$ adult men and women, all of whom had undergone a polysomnogram to diagnose possible sleep apnea. !mong this group, ,D percent were and heart disease; ultimately diagnosed with 0 !. The average age of those included was CB at the study=s The connection between sleep apnea and ?esearchers heart outset. followed the participants over the ne(t $C years, to assess incidents disease is evolving very rapidly. 2eople with of sudden cardiac events and their possible connection to obstructive sleep apnea. They found9 0ver the $C.year follow up period, $E7 people e(perienced sudden cardiac arrest. cardiovascular problems such as high blood In some cases this was fatal, while others were resuscitated. ?esearchers= analysis found pressure, heart failure, and stro&e have a high people with 0 ! were at significantly greater ris& of sudden cardiac death. prevalence of sleep apnea. Whether sleep apnea actually causes heart disease is still The three strongest predictors of ris& for sudden cardiac death were9 being /% years or unclear, but older, having low blood o(ygen levels, and having at least 7% episodes of apnea per hour. !pneatoday, episodes occur when, during sleep, muscles at the bac& of the throat close, we do &now that if you have sleep apnea temporarilyin obstructing the airway and interrupting breathing. These episodes, which the chance that you will develop hypertension result in poor and unrefreshing sleep, are the hallmar& of 0 !. The severity of obstructive the future increases significantly. sleep apnea is measured by the frequency of apnea episodes, which can vary from a few to doFens of times in an hour. ! rate of 7% episodes an hour is considered moderate 0ne of the problems in defining thetimes relationship sleep is apnea. between sleep apnea and heart disease that people with sleep apnea often have other co. !n earlier study conducted by some of the same researchers found that among patients e(isting diseases as well. with obstructive sleep apnea, sudden cardiac death frequently occurred at night. This sets these patients stri&ingly apart from others who suffer cardiac death. 8or the general If you treat people with high blood pressure and population, the ris& of sudden cardiac death is greatest during the morning hours. This sleep apnea, or heart failure and sleep apnea, previous study involved a review of $$7 cases of sudden cardiac death in people who had the measures of blood pressure or also heart failure undergone polysomnography to diagnose possible sleep apnea. ?esearchers the timing of these cardiac events among those with 0 ! to those in the study are significantly improved. There is compared good without 0 !, the general population, as well as to the e(pectations of chance. They evidence to thin& there is a cause.and.effect found9 Getween the hours of midnight and / a.m., sudden cardiac death occurred in E/ relationship between hypertension and sleep percent of people with 0 !, compared to 7$ percent of those without 0 !, $/ percent of apnea. the general population, and 7C H e(pected by chance alone. Why does your blood pressure go up whenwho your 2eople suffered sudden cardiac death during the hours of midnight and / a.m. had sleep is disrupted by sleep apnea; more severe sleep apnea than those who e(perienced sudden cardiac death at other times. <our blood pressure will go up because when you=re not breathing, the o(ygen level in your !nalysis revealed that the ris& of sudden cardiac death during these overnight hours was directly associated with obstructive sleep apnea. This study was the first one to establish body falls and e(cites receptors that alert the directly lin& between 0 ! and sudden cardiac death. The current research both brain. In response, the brain sends a signals confirms and also e(pands evidence of this connection. Ieither of these studies through the nervous system and essentially tells established a cause.and.effect relationship between sleep apnea and sudden cardiac the blood vessels to >tighten up> in order to death. Gut they do indicate a strong association between the two. increase the flow of o(ygen to the heart and the Jore brain,than $D million !mericans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, according to the Iational leep 8oundation. The actual figure may be even higher, since there are strong because they have priority. indications that 0 ! is seriously under.diagnosed, especially among women. udden cardiac death stri&es between $D%,%%% to EC%,%%% people a year in the United tates, The problem is that things that go on at night according to the !merican Heart !ssociation. 0besity is a primary ris& factor for tend to carry over in the daytime, even when the obstructive sleep apnea patient is awa&e. The low o(ygen sleep apnea, and also puts people at higher ris& for sudden cardiac death. The other cardiovascular conditions associated with sleep apnea, including cardiac levels at night seem to trigger multiple arrthymias and high blood pressure, also elevate ris& for sudden cardiac death. In mechanisms that persist during thediscussing daytime, their results, researchers suggest that the presence of sleep apnea may be a even when the patient is breathing >tipping normally. point> in the accumulation of ris& factors for sudden cardiac death. This news provides yet another reason why it=s important not to ignore symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea in yourself or your partner. noring, daytime tiredness, and fatigue are among the most common symptoms. If you e(perience these symptoms, tal&

leep !pnea and Heart @isease

Heart ?is&s 8rom leep !pnea imilar To Those 8rom @iabetes

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