October 27, 2008

People with OSA risk heart disease

According to recent research by scientists at the Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine, has found that many people may be unaware that they have a mild form of the sleep disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

This in itself may not be life threatening but as a result of the studies that have been done on suffers, it would appear that they could be at risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease too.

“It was previously known that people with OSA severe enough to affect their daytime alertness and manifest in other ways are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but this finding suggests that many more people—some of whom may be completely unaware that they even have OSA—are at risk than previously thought,” said lead author of the study, Malcolm Kohler, M.D.

If this study is taken seriously then it is possible that regular checkups could help prevent the patients from suffering the increased chance of heart problems in the future.

Source [Eurekalert]