According to a study from Kobe Central Hospital, Japan, patients who have undergone coronary angioplasty—done to clear or widen clogged or narrowing heart arteries—are advisable to undergo snoring treatment.
It was found that if those patients ignored their snoring problems, they would have twice the chance of getting a heart attack or stroke.
Why? Snoring is a sign of narrowing respiratory tract during sleep. The situation will cause the patient to ‘stop breathing’, thus interrupting oxygen flow to the brain. This is called sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea, the pause of breathing during sleep, occurs to snorers. It is a serious sleep disorder that occurs repeatedly during sleep. The condition of clogged respiratory tract will drastically decrease the amount of oxygen, causing the snorer to feel choked. To ease that feeling, the snorer will try to take a sudden breath, which is usually followed by a snort sound.
Here are some effects of sleep apnea:
- In each cycle, sleep apnea may last from a few seconds to several minutes. Imagine how harmful this is, especially because it occurs multiple times.
- On the next day, the person will feel sleepy and lethargic, although his duration of sleep is enough. This is called hypersomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness.
- Sleep apnea may also worsen stress and set off inflammatory responses that are detrimental to heart health.
This study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in June 2016. The study used data from 241 patients who underwent angioplasty. All patients underwent sleep examination that monitor the heart and respiratory functions during sleep. It was found that 52.3% of the patients suffered from sleep apnea.
The researchers kept track of the patients for more than 5 years, and found out that 21.4% of those patients ended up suffering from a heart attack, while only 7.8% were free of sleep apnea. It was also found that patients with sleep apnea had up to 3 times higher chance of mortality.
As the closing remarks of the publication, experts encouraged doctors to pay more attention to the sleeping habits of patients with heart problems and stroke. It will not be difficult, simply ask about their sleeping and snoring habits.
Text by Denistya Sagita
Stock photos from smilesbybis.com
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