Sleep Apnea May Help Heart Attack Patients Repair, Construct New Blood Vessels

[ApneaNews]

Sleep Apnea May Help Heart Attack Patients Repair, Construct New Blood Vessels

Sleep apnea may boost the number and ability of rare cells that can repair and build new blood vessels.

By Makini Brice

Sleep apnea has been generally viewed as an evil that negatively affects all aspects of your life. Here at Medical Daily, we have written articles about how sleep apnea can cause greater amounts of brain damage in women, mothers' sleep apnea can cause newborns to have breathing problems, and even that the condition may increase sleepers' risk of cancer. However, there may be a silver lining to the perils of sleep apnea: for some heart attack patients, it may boost the number and ability of rare cells that can repair and build new blood vessels.

A new study looked at sleep-disordered breathing, which is characterized with apnea-induced hypoxia when the sleeper experiences a temporary drop in oxygen levels. Though somewhat rare in the general population, occurring in just 5 to 10 percent of people, it is fairly common in patients who have suffered heart attacks. In fact, 40 to 60 percent of heart attack patients suffer from sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep apnea has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular problems, but researchers were mystified when they realized that patients with sleep-disordered breathing tend to recover just as well as patients without it.

The researchers studied 40 patients who had suffered from heart attacks days earlier. Some had sleep-disordered breathing; others did not. Researchers drew blood samples from all of the participants and found that the patients with sleep apnea had greater numbers of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which help to repair and construct new blood cells, than the healthy sleepers. Sleep-disordered patients also had higher levels of growth-enhancing proteins and immune cells that boost the production of blood vessels. In fact, researchers were able to recreate the same body effect in 12 other healthy men and women by withholding oxygen from them for short periods of time.

The finding indicated that sleep apnea may indeed stress the heart, but it may also enhance conditions for repair. Researchers noted in a statement that patients with sleep apnea "are essentially better prepared to harness the recruitment of EPCs when [a heart attack] comes knock at the door."

The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

fair use from:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/137...repair.htm

[zonk]

The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

fair use from:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/137...repair.htm

one of the author of this study "Israeli scientist Peretz Lavie"

Sleep apnoea or snoring is quite prevalent. Some people can wake up to 400 times a night. More than 50% of people aged above 60 have more than 15 events/hour of sleep. Sleep apnoea is known as a risk factor for many conditions including heart disease and insulin. But Peretz Lavie now suggests there are benefits in sleep apnoea. He has discovered that mortality risk lessens with age. In 20-30 year-olds, there is a 10 times mortality risk with sleep apnoea. But there is no risk for people over 50. People suffering a heart attack recover much faster when they experience sleep apnoea. Following a heart attack, stem cells rush to the damaged area and build new blood vessels. Those with apnoea have more stem cells and they work more efficiently. Peretz Lavie compared elderly heart attack victims. Those with sleep apnoea lived longer. It is thought the apnoea prepares the heart for the massive heart attack. This brings into question whether treatment for sleep apnoea for older patients is advisable

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...od-for-you

[Shastzi]

I'm not buying it.
Like saying "Lets put out this forest fire with this gasoline"

The EPC's and growth enhancing hormones with "immune cells" (what kind of immune cells? There are many!)
being present shows that the system is stressed and damage repair mode is engaged. With low oxygen levels I put forth the concept that not much is going to be accomplished.
To me this report is drawing a conlusion based on an assumption.
Not long ago I remember some idiot spouting "radiation is GOOD FOR YOU!"

Yah. Right.
So, who paid this guy to write this?
Some health insurance companies maybe?
Next thing you know, insurance providers will be using this report to weasle out of paying claims for apnea patients...

I'm from Missouri. Show me the vast number of recovered patients!

[archangle]

There's not really anything that controversial about this study, as long as you don't draw any bogus conclusions about it.

Sleep apnea is still bad for you. However, it does have a few good side effects. Your heart tries to build new blood vessels and otherwise adapt when it's oxygen deprive. Some of these adaptations are probably helpful if you do have a heart attack.

Also, the study talks about the process of repair once you have a heart attack. Don't forget that patients with apnea tend to have more heart attacks to begin with. If you have twice the number of heart attacks, but recover 10% better, apnea is still a bad deal.

However, there might be some potential beneficial effects long term from this study. It sounds like some kind of controlled oxygen deprivation after a heart attack may help your heart heal better. Or it may indicate that giving heart attack patients oxygen may have some drawbacks in terms of healing.

[Shastzi]

Well put, wilorg!

[archangle]

I discussed this with my colleagues at the Herz Zentrum (heart centre) and the consensus is that it might be useful for a recovery method, but there is overwhelming evidence that apnoea raises the risk of hear attack by at least 20%. Nice if you recover better, but better not to have it in the first place. But it has led my colleagues to consider asking for a trial of controlled lowered use of post attack O2 on patients with written consent, to see if, carefully monitored, they actually do recover better. One colleague, however, expressed doubt, because giving O2 is a relatively recent thing, no more than 70 years in practice, and only common for less than 50 years, and there is ample evidence that before the introduction of forced o2, mortality was higher. There was also the opinion expressed that it may well depend on the overall levels of any protective component already present in the system BEFORE the attack, in which case, while it is desirable to have that, it is still better to not have a reason to have it in the first place (in other words, USE YER MASKS!).

Obviously, you don't simply stop giving O2 to heart attack patients. However, there might be a way to improve outcomes by making some adjustments to the process.

At one time, not too long ago, a lot of premature babies were blinded by receiving oxygen. Since then, they've figured out how to greatly reduce the chances of blindness yet still treat the babies with O2.