How can sleep apnea affect my heart?

In people who suffer from sleep apnea, sleep goes from a restful, restorative state to a stressful physiological state that results in cardiovascular problems. Learn more from Scott Leibowitz, MD, FAASM, about sleep apnea and the heart.

Transcript

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Sleep goes from being a restful, restorative state to literally a stressful, physiologic state, more

00:07

stressful than being awake. As a result of that, we see downstream consequences of things like high blood pressure, heart arrhythmias,

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increased risk for strokes. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:23

Sleep apnea affects your heart in a number of different ways. At the root of it all, though, if you can think of each episode where you stop

00:31

or struggle to breathe-- the physiologic equivalent of someone taking a pillow and trying to smother you.

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Essentially what would you do in that setting? You'd have an adrenaline rush, a blood pressure surge, a heart rate surge, essentially fight off the person with the pillow.

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And that's what your body's doing over and over and over again night after night after night.

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So sleep goes from being a restful, restorative state to literally a stressful physiologic state, more

00:59

stressful than being awake. As a result of that, we see downstream consequences of things like high blood pressure,

01:06

heart arrhythmias increased risk for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, influences the risk for diabetes and blood sugar control.

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So you can see it impacts obesity as well. So there's a clear overlap between cardiovascular disease

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and the mechanisms that cause cardiovascular disease and what sleep apnea does to your body each night. [AUDIO LOGO]