Nesconset Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation

By Donna Lampa

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released a joint statement urging research to be done to determine the link between sleep apnea and heart disease, following increasing evidence of just such a connection, as well as the widespread prevalence of sleep apnea and rising levels of obesity in the United States, especially among young people. Obesity is a major cause of sleep apnea

“We feel it is important to alert the cardiovascular community to the implications of this emerging area of research. It is possible that diagnosing and treating sleep apnea may prove to be an important opportunity to advance our efforts at preventing and treating heart disease,” said Dr. Virend K. Somers, a professor of medicine and cardiovascular diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“We need to more clearly define the cause and effect relationship between sleep apnea and cardiovascular diseases and risk factors,” he noted. “There is evidence that sleep apnea may be a cause of some cases of high blood pressure, but for other cardiovascular conditions, the evidence is largely circumstantial.”