Sleep Apnea and Your Heart

A good night’s sleep helps you feel well-rested and ready to take on the day ahead. But for people with sleep apnea, getting deep sleep can be hard, leading to tiredness during the day and potential impacts to heart health.

If you have trouble sleeping, AHN Grove City Hospital’s sleep specialists can help find the cause, treat the problem, and check how your sleep may affect your heart.

The stages of sleep

To understand why your sleep is disrupted, it helps to first understand the different sleep stages. Sleep cycles repeat several times, with a typical sleep cycle lasting 90-120 minutes.

Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) Sleep

NREM accounts for 80% of sleep each night and includes stages of light sleep, deeper sleep, and the deepest sleep.*

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep

REM sleep, also called dream sleep, makes up about 20% of total sleep each night.* It involves:

• Quick eye movements.
• Increased brain activity.
• Temporary muscle weakness.

REM sleep is important for brain and body function, but sleep apnea disrupts this phase, causing interrupted breathing and frequent awakenings.

What is sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that involves repeated episodes of stopped or shallow breathing during sleep. These episodes are called apneas. They can last from a few seconds to several minutes.

There are three types of sleep apnea:

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) – The airway becomes blocked by the soft tissues in the back of the throat, such as the tongue or tonsils. It’s the most common type of sleep apnea.
• Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) – The brain fails to send signals to the muscles that control breathing, causing breathing pauses. Symptoms including snoring and sleep disruptions.
• Complex Sleep Apnea – Involves a combination of OSA and CSA.

Sleep apnea doesn’t just make you tired during the day; it can also put you at risk for serious health problems.

Sleep apnea and heart health

The quality of your breathing and sleep also affects your heart. If you have sleep apnea, you may be at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular health issues or suffering cardiac or other emergencies, such as:

• Pulmonary hypertension – A condition where the blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood to the heart is unusually high.
• Stroke – Severe obstructive sleep apnea can increase the likelihood of suffering a stroke, where blood flow to the brain is blocked or a blood vessel bursts.
• Congestive heart failure – Occurs when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. Congestive heart failure happens over time, first affecting the right side of the heart, then the left.
• Cardiac arrest – When the heart suddenly stops beating. If not treated properly, this can result in sudden cardiac death.
• Sudden cardiac death – An unexpected death that happens because of a heart rhythm disturbance. 

Reach out to an AHN sleep specialist to discuss your pre-existing heart issues and how sleep apnea could be impacting your heart health.

Risk factors

Certain factors related to your gender, lifestyle, and genetics may increase your risk for developing sleep apnea over time. For instance, older men are more prone to developing sleep apnea, as well as women who have recently been through menopause.

Other common risk factors to be aware of include:

• Hyperthyroidism – Overactivity of the thyroid gland (located in the front of the neck), causing a rapid heartbeat and increased metabolism.
• Weight gain/higher Body Mass Index (BMI).
• Sleep deprivation.
• Steroid use.
• Family history of sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.

Getting screened

If you’re feeling overly sleepy during the day, or you’re woken up frequently by your snoring, it’s a good idea to see an AHN sleep specialist to get evaluated for sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.

To find a diagnosis, the AHN Grove City team will determine whether you need a lab screening or an at-home sleep study. Lab studies are often reserved for people with organ problems like heart disease or pulmonary disease. If you are generally healthy and have more classic sleep apnea symptoms, you may be a candidate for an at-home study. The study results will help determine how to move forward with treatment.

Exploring treatment

A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine is the most effective treatment for sleep apnea.** It helps keep airways open and has proven to greatly reduce hospital visits. For many patients, a CPAP can almost completely prevent breathing pauses during sleep.However, CPAP isn’t right for everyone. Your doctor may suggest other options based on your needs, such as:

• BiPAP machine – Helps people with oxygen problems.
• Inspire surgery – A small device implanted in the neck and upper chest to improve breathing.
• Tracheostomy – A small tube placed in the windpipe to help with airflow. This is only done for severe cases of sleep apnea where other treatment options have failed. 

Connect with a specialist

You deserve sleep that leaves you feeling rested and doesn’t put you at risk for heart health emergencies. Reach out to AHN Grove City today to set up an appointment with a sleep specialist.