Sleep Disorder Increases Risk of Mortality - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today
By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Rubeen K. Israni, M.D., Fellow, Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
November 09, 2005
Also covered by: ABC News, Forbes, MSNBC
MedPage Today Action Points
* Consider sleep apnea in patients who report restless sleep, loud snoring (with periods of silence followed by gasps), falling asleep during the day, morning headaches, trouble concentrating, irritability, forgetfulness, mood or behavior changes, anxiety, or depression.
* Inform concerned patients that CPAP, while found in one study to be ineffective at increasing survival in patients with heart failure and central (neurologically-based) sleep apnea, has been reported to improve the quality of sleep for patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
Review
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 9 - Obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of death from stroke or other causes, whether the sleeper has hypertension or not, according to research reported today.
Equally disquieting was the news that in patients with both central sleep apnea and heart failure, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) improves both sleep and cardiovascular function, but does not improve survival.
Those findings were reported in separate sleep apnea studies published in the Nov. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Posted by gruwell at November 10, 2005 9:54 AM | TrackBack