A US study shows that women with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer from serious health problems, such as heart problems.
While in France, around 3 million people suffer from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), a new study published in the journal Plos One specifies the risks incurred by people affected by this pathology. “We now know that sleep apnea is a precursor to bigger health problems. And for women in particular, the consequences can be fatal, ”explains Dr. Paul Macey, lead author of this study. This doctor also specifies that the women affected appear most of the time in good health. “Women with obstructive sleep apnea, for example, often have normal resting blood pressure. Their symptoms therefore tend to be more subtle, which means that their sleep problem is often missed by doctors and they unfortunately get a bad diagnosis, ”he says.
The autonomic nervous system is slightly deficient
In this study conducted by the University of California at Los Angeles, the authors recruited 94 male and female volunteers: 37 people newly diagnosed with OSA and 57 healthy volunteers to act as controls in this analysis.
All of them were subjected to different physical tests, in order to observe how their heart rate responded. For example, they have all been invited to perform the Valsalva maneuver which consists of exhaling while keeping the mouth closed, but also to insert their right foot in almost frozen water for a minute.
As a result, the body’s autonomic responses, which normally control blood pressure, heart rate or even sweating, do not seem to work optimally in people with obstructive sleep apnea. Heart rate responses “were of lower amplitude in patients with OSA. Likewise, its speed changes were slower in them compared to healthy volunteers ”confide the authors.
Women even more at risk
In addition, the researchers also showed that these deficiencies were even more marked in women.. “The heart rate results obtained for these tests show that the impact of sleep apnea is bad in men, but even more severe in women. This may mean that women are more likely to develop symptoms of heart disease, as well as other consequences of poor adjustment to daily physical tasks, ”says Paul Macey.
The study therefore concludes that the female population should benefit from earlier detection and treatment of sleep apnea in order to protect them against the damage induced by this pathology on the brain and other organs.
The team intends to study whether treatments for OSA, such as continuous positive airway pressure, a machine that helps patients breathe more easily while they sleep, help improve the body’s autonomic responses.
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