We all have a bad night’s sleep from time to time, but if you’re regularly missing out on good rest, it could have serious health consequences. Sometimes, however, you might not even realize anything is amiss—and that lack of awareness could mean failing to notice a major warning sign for your heart health. Doctors say that one nighttime habit in particular signals real trouble when it comes to heart disease. Read on to learn about this nocturnal red flag and what you should do if you’re affected.
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Snoring is a common problem with many causes, including sleep apnea.
If you snore, you might not even realize it—until a bed partner complains, that is.
“Snoring is caused by vibrations in any area of the upper airway (the passageway from your nose and mouth down to your trachea),” explains Nithin Adappa, MD, the surgical director of the Penn AERD Center and associate professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Penn Medicine. “This can be from obstruction in the nasal passage, the soft palate, or the base of the tongue.”
Snoring often becomes more pronounced as we age, as the soft tissue in our airway tends to relax more when sleeping. Mayo Clinic reports that other factors can increase snoring: alcohol consumption, having a narrow airway, nasal problems, a family history of snoring or obstructive sleep apnea, and being overweight.
If your snoring is on the mild side, you likely don’t have to worry about health concerns lurking beneath the surface. That said, heavy snoring could be a warning sign of sleep apnea, per the Sleep Foundation.
“Other signs of sleep apnea include waking up at night feeling as though you are gasping for air, excessive daytime sleepiness, excessive waking up at night, and a bed partner who notes periods of sleep where breathing appears to have stopped,” says Adappa.
What is OSA?
The American Medical Association (AMA) estimates that roughly 30 million people in the U.S. have sleep apnea (about 9 percent of the population), but only 6 million are diagnosed—which could be a serious health hazard.
There are three forms of sleep apnea, according to Medical News Today. Those include central, obstructive, and complex. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form.
“Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition where a blockage or narrowing in your airway keeps air from moving through your windpipe when you’re asleep,” explains Cleveland Clinic. “The blockage and lack of airflow can cause your blood oxygen levels to drop. This triggers a survival reflex in your brain that wakes you up just enough to breathe again. While that reflex is key in keeping you breathing, it also disrupts your sleep.”
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OSA could put you at risk for heart disease.
“If a person has obstructive sleep apnea, they can have an increased risk of heart disease,” says Marilene B. Wang, MD, a head and neck surgeon at UCLA Health. “The increased work of breathing during sleeping and stoppage of breathing (apnea) results in a drop in the oxygen level in the blood and strain on the heart.”
Dana L. Crosby, MD, department chair and director of otolaryngic allergy at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, adds that OSA can increase your risk of many different cardiovascular issues, “including high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and heart problems such as heart attack, heart failure, and enlarged heart.”
More specifically, research published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of the following cardiovascular conditions:
- Heart failure by 140 percent
- Stroke by 60 percent
- Coronary heart disease by 30 percent
Similarly, research published by the American Heart Association (AHA) concluded that between 40 and 80 percent of patients with hypertension (high blood pressure), heart failure, coronary artery disease, pulmonary hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and stroke have OSA.
“Despite its high prevalence in patients with heart disease and the vulnerability of cardiac patients to OSA-related stressors and adverse cardiovascular outcomes, OSA is often underrecognized and undertreated in cardiovascular practice,” the AHA cautions.
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This is when to see a doctor about your snoring.
When the snoring has become bothersome to you or your partner, it’s reasonable to see a doctor and ask about possible treatments.
“If a doctor suspects sleep apnea, they will likely recommend a sleep study, also known as a polysomnogram,” says Crosby. “Once sleep apnea is diagnosed, another polysomnogram with a titration study can be done to determine the settings for a continuous positive airway pressure device (CPAP). CPAP is a common device that is typically the first step to treat sleep apnea. This machine blows air in during sleep to help keep the airway open rather than allowing it to collapse.”
If your doctor agrees, you can also try natural treatments for OSA, such as limiting or avoiding alcohol, sleeping with a wedge or body pillow, sleeping on your side, or treating nasal congestion. Losing weight can also help.
“As we lose weight, the walls of the throat and tongue become thinner and the breathing space enlarges,” explains Ofer Jacobowitz, MD, PhD, of ENT and Allergy Associates in New York City. “The opposite is also true, so today’s simple snorer may develop sleep apnea with weight gain.”
As for surgical treatments, those continue to advance with time. “In general, surgery is done to reduce excess tissue like very enlarged tonsils, or long palates, or to straighten structures in the nose,” says Crosby. “Surgeries are really only recommended for those in whom CPAP has been ineffective or for those who cannot tolerate the device. CPAP is currently the gold standard of treatment and is highly effective.”
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