Heart Decease and Sleep Apnea??

[racprops]

In 2013 I had to get a Quad bypass, when I checked out of the hospitable I was told I have Sleep Apnea.

Looking into Sleep Apnea I remember reading that it could have caused my heart decease. I felt this could really be the cause as my console was only “borderline”.

Lately I was told this is not correct.

So what are the findings now a days??

Rich

[Stargazer]

In 2013 I had to get a Quad bypass, when I checked out of the hospitable I was told I have Sleep Apnea.

Looking into Sleep Apnea I remember reading that it could have caused my heart decease. I felt this could really be the cause as my console was only “borderline”.

Lately I was told this is not correct.

So what are the findings now a days??

Rich

From what I've seen, it is still unclear but sleep apnea can have an effect on blood pressure. Increased BP is obviously not a good thing for the heart and the whole cardiovascular system. My personal opinion is that sleep apnea does have a detrimental effect on the heart bc of increased BP. Still kind of muddy because folks like us with SA usually have other coexisting conditions.

[Sleeprider]

Reputable studies have identified a strong correlation between A-fib and sleep apnea http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/3/1/e000654.full

Coronary artery disease and stroke http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions...rYX59BZ_7w http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/118/10/1080.full https://www.thoracic.org/patients/patien...-heart.pdf

and heart failure. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/107/12/1671.full

Whether sleep apnea precedes the disease state, or aggravates existing disease, really isn't that important. The consequences of untreated apnea in patients with established heart disease or a predisposition to it, are pretty clear. Your discovery of serious heart disease requiring a quad bypass, concurrent with the discovery of OSA is probably not uncommon. Asking the question, what came first, is probably not so important as realizing you have very high risks if you don't treat OSA along with taking care of your heart. Could you have minimized heart damage by treating OSA sooner, possibly avoiding the need for bypass? That might be the million dollar question that never gets answered. Our health tends to be the sum of genetics, and behaviors, so in some ways, I suspect we get dealt a hand, we have to play. Some people can drink soda, alcohol and eat fatty foods and never have a problem; while other gain weight and develop chronic disease from that. Also, weight has a relationship to OSA, but skinny people, and even young people have apnea too.

[otrpu]

Beats me. I had a little heart attacky 26 years ago. Most likely had something to do with the 2.5 packs a day I was smoking then. They did an angioplasty and reamed me out. I also weighed 289 lbs then. Dropped a hunnert or so pounds. Quit the cigs. 2003 was diagnosed SA. Used that first Brick for 11 years. No repeat heart problems since. Don't know if CPAP helps or not. All I know is I feel so much better after using it, I will continue it for that reason alone. Live long, be happy.
Regards,
otrpu

[SideSleeper]

Sleeprider, thank you for posting those links! The one on heart failure was awesome--I don't understand all the terms used but learned tons about how PAP use can help. I have left ventricular problems and my ejection fraction is a little low--not quite to heart failure--but I sure have a lot of questions to ask my cardiologist and sleep doctor--and may need a pulmonary checkup. My CA's are reasonably low--usually under 5/night, but a few nights ago I had a scary 17. All are short--thank to Sleephead I can check each one out. Drove my AHI to over 5 for the first time since October when I was first getting started on treatment. OK last night--but there is a lot more I want to hear about periodic breathing.

[Sleeprider]

SideSleeper, thanks for the feedback! That was a very technical article I linked, and I'm glad you were able to work through the nomenclature. With HF, periodic breathing, including Cheyne Stokes and CA may become an increased risk factor for you. Your APAP will not deal with the volumetric changes or CA events that can accompany HF or A-fib. If you see this become a more regular feature of your sleep apnea, you'll need to talk with your doctor about possibly upgrading to ASV, which can continue to treat OSA and also intervene with periodic breathing and centrals.

A recent study by Resmed raised some safety concerns for the use of ASV in patients with HF. This article discusses that and some updated information that suggests that the safety concerns may be anomalous. As you know, HF itself carries certain inherent risks. You can discuss this with your doctor and see what his thoughts are. I'm inclined to think treating periodic breathing and CA seems logically a better idea than not treating those problems, but you might want to investigate this controversy further if you think ASV might be beneficial.
http://www.aasmnet.org/articles.aspx?id=5562
http://www.aasmnet.org/articles.aspx?id=5732

[Mosquitobait]

In 2013 I had to get a Quad bypass, when I checked out of the hospitable I was told I have Sleep Apnea.

Looking into Sleep Apnea I remember reading that it could have caused my heart decease. I felt this could really be the cause as my console was only “borderline”.

Lately I was told this is not correct.

So what are the findings now a days??

Rich

Sleep apnea DOES NOT CAUSE heart disease that results in a bypass. Cholesterol buildup does. High blood clotting factors does. Your arteries are blocked. I agree with what the others have said that it can increase heart events related to blood pressure.

FWIW, my Dad had apnea until his heart attack. Didn't have it after that. I don't know enough about physiological structure to understand why this change occurred.

[bwexler]

Sleeprider, I found the articles linked very informative in spite of their technical nature. They were also dated 2003 which suggests current research might shed more light on the topic.
I have been and am confused by the differences between CSA and Cheyne-Stokes breathing patterns. These articles seem to use the terms synonymously.

Finally to the OP Heart Decease is more of a final outcome, heart disease is more likely what you meant to discuss.

[Jimsp1]

I had a pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) ablation which stopped the afibs which on a few occasions came with a rapid ventricular response (about160 bpm) and a night in the hospital to stop the afib. Of great interest to me the first article suggest that OSA's may cause the recurrence of afib after a PVI ablation. I still have very frequent PVC's (premature ventricular contractions) which are not particularly dangerous but somewhat limiting. My cardiologist suggested I should consider a sleep test and as a result I am in the fourth month of using an APAP. I only get the AHI in the 2-5 range but the apneas are significantly reduced (zero last night)so based on this paper the APAP may be doing more good then I realized.

[DeepBreathing]

I still have very frequent PVC's (premature ventricular contractions) which are not particularly dangerous but somewhat limiting. My cardiologist suggested I should consider a sleep test and as a result I am in the fourth month of using an APAP.

I had a similar experience - the PVCs were a pain in the proverbial, but going onto PAP has stopped them completely.