Life After a Stroke
Whether you’re recovering from a stroke or supporting a loved one after their stroke, there’s a lot to learn about life after a stroke. Read on to learn how to protect your health and reduce your risk of another event.
How Sleep Apnea Silently Damages Your Heart Over Time
Most people think of sleep apnea as a sleep problem. Maybe you snore loudly, wake up feeling exhausted, or find yourself nodding off during the day.
Here’s the problem, though: Sleep apnea isn't just affecting your sleep. It can also place significant stress on your heart and blood vessels night after night.
Dr. Henock Saint-Jacques and his team of experts understand how untreated sleep apnea can contribute to serious cardiovascular problems and why treating it is one of the best things you can do for your heart health. So, if you have sleep apnea (or suspect you do), don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at Harlem Cardiology in East Harlem, New York.
In the meantime, read on to learn more about sleep apnea and how it can silently damage your heart.
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea happens when you have apneas (pauses) in your breathing while you sleep. There are three kinds of sleep apnea: central sleep apnea (your brain doesn’t send messages to breathe while you sleep), obstructive sleep apnea (something physically obstructs your breathing), or mixed sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of sleep apnea and occurs when the muscles in your throat relax during sleep, which can cause your airway to become partially or completely blocked. It affects over one billion people worldwide, and many people don't even realize it's happening.
When you have an apnea episode, your breathing repeatedly stops and starts throughout the night. Some people experience these breathing interruptions dozens (or even hundreds) of times per night.
You may want to talk to your provider about sleep apnea if you:
- Snore loudly
- Wake up gasping or choking
- Feel tired despite a full night's sleep
- Experience morning headaches
- Have difficulty concentrating during the day
- Have high blood pressure that's difficult to control
Sometimes a bed partner notices the symptoms before you do.
5 ways sleep apnea silently damages your heart while you sleep
Every time your airway becomes blocked, the amount of oxygen in your blood decreases. Your body responds by releasing stress hormones and briefly waking you up so you can start breathing again. While these awakenings are often too short to remember, they prevent your body from getting the deep, restorative sleep it needs.
More importantly, this cycle places significant strain on your cardiovascular system.
1. Sleep apnea can raise your blood pressure
Each breathing interruption triggers a surge of adrenaline and other stress hormones. These repeated surges can cause your blood pressure to rise and remain elevated, even during the day.
In fact, sleep apnea is one of the most common causes of treatment-resistant hypertension.
For some people, treating sleep apnea can become an important part of controlling high blood pressure.
2. Sleep apnea increases your risk of heart rhythm problems
Sleep apnea has been linked to several abnormal heart rhythms, particularly atrial fibrillation (AFib). Researchers believe the repeated drops in oxygen levels and stress placed on the heart contribute to electrical changes that increase the likelihood of developing arrhythmias.
3. Sleep apnea forces your heart to work harder
Imagine repeatedly holding your breath while your body struggles to get enough oxygen. That's essentially what your heart experiences throughout the night when sleep apnea goes untreated.
Over time, this extra workload can contribute to enlargement of the heart and reduced cardiovascular function.
4. Sleep apnea may increase your risk of a heart attack and stroke
Untreated sleep apnea is associated with higher rates of:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart failure
- Dementia
These risks aren't insignificant. We just mentioned that sleep apnea can contribute to atrial fibrillation, and that then increases your risk of stroke by as much as five times. Atrial fibrillation is also associated with a threefold increase in heart failure risk and approximately double the risk of dementia.
While sleep apnea isn't the only risk factor for these conditions, it can significantly contribute to overall cardiovascular risk.
5. Sleep apnea can make other heart conditions harder to manage
If you already have high blood pressure, heart disease, arrhythmias, or heart failure, untreated sleep apnea can make these conditions more difficult to control.
That's why many cardiologists, including Dr. Saint-Jacques, now consider sleep apnea screening an important part of comprehensive cardiovascular care.
Protect your heart while you sleep
If you snore, struggle with daytime fatigue, or have cardiovascular risk factors, schedule an appointment with Harlem Cardiology to learn whether sleep apnea could be impacting your heart health.
Dr. Saint-Jacques and his team look beyond your individual symptoms to understand the bigger picture of your cardiovascular health. If sleep apnea may be affecting your heart, we can help identify your risk factors and guide you toward appropriate testing and treatment.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Saint-Jacques at Harlem Cardiology today. You can also reach our East Harlem, New York, office at 646-381-2181.
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