A new study from University of Missouri researchers has found a link between breathing during sleep and a potentially fatal heart condition. The study, which was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, focused on a potential link between obstructive sleep apnea and abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which a person repeatedly starts and stops breathing during sleep – causing difficulty breathing and other symptoms. A new study led by MU researchers used mice to show obstructive sleep apnea can increase the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysms, or triple A. When people repeatedly stop breathing during sleep, it causes something called intermittent hypoxia - which essentially means oxygen is only being taken in periodically. Researchers theorize this is the main factor that leads to Triple A development.
“These interruptions in breathing caused by OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) are associated with significant health consequences, and the cardiovascular disease risk is one of the important risks caused by the OSA,” said Dr. Neekun Sharma, the lead researcher on the study.
Triple A’s are bulges that form in the major blood vessel that delivers blood from the heart. Sharma, who is also an assistant research professor with MU School of Medicine, said Triple A’s are life-threatening and carry a high risk of rupture.
“Rupture can cause life threatening internal bleeding, like intra abdominal bleeding, and the symptoms of this rupture may include certain intense and persistent belly pain or the back pain,” Sharma said. “You may have low blood pressure and a fast pulse.”
Sharma said sleep apnea alone cannot cause Triple A’s, but other risk factors can contribute to an increased risk. She said there are several actions that patients can take to lower their risk of developing triple A’s.
“Following a heart healthy diet, staying physically active, quitting smoking. And the regular health checkup to, you know, look for the aortic diameter, an abdominal scan. You can go for a medical checkup every 6 months,” Sharma said.
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