More than 12 million people in the U.S. suffer from sleep apnea, most common among the overweight and obese. More than just loud snoring, it can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and a poor quality of life. For years, doctors have told patients with sleep apnea that their best bet for alleviating it would be to lose weight, but there’s been very little research-based evidence to prove that.
Sleeping less than seven and a half hours per day may be associated with future risk of heart disease, according to a report in the November 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, a combination of little sleep and overnight elevated blood pressure appears to be associated with an increased risk of the disease.
“Reflecting changing lifestyles, people are sleeping less in modern societies,” according to background information in the article. Getting adequate sleep is essential to preventing health conditions such as obesity and diabetes as well as several risk factors for cardiovascular disease including sleep-disordered breathing and night-time high blood pressure.
Women age 70 and older who sleep five hours or less per night may be more likely to experience falls than those who sleep more than seven to eight hours per night, according to a report in the September 8, 2008 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The use of sleep medications does not appear to influence the association between sleep and risk of falling.
“Falls pose a major health risk among older adults and are a leading cause of death, illness and premature nursing home placement,” according to background information in the article. About one-third of adults older than age 65 experience falls each year. Insomnia and disturbed sleep as well as the use of benzodiazepines — hypnotic medications to treat insomnia — are increasingly common in older adults.
The number of elderly individuals newly diagnosed with heart failure has declined during the past ten years, but the number of those living with the condition has increased, according to a report in the February 25, 2008, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Heart failure affects nearly five million people in the United States, and more than 300,000 die each year as a result of the disease. Heart failure is primarily a disease of elderly persons and, consequently, places a significant and growing economic burden on the Medicare program,” according to background information in the article. The number of people age 65 or older hospitalized for heart failure from 1984 to 2002 rose by more than 30 percent.
Over the next decade, as further studies are conducted, it will be interesting to see the correlation between sleep apnea and heart failure, as well as survival rates, show up in the statistics.
Use of calcium-channel blockers, alpha-blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors appears to offer no advantages in improving clinical outcomes compared with use of diuretics when treating hypertension among individuals with metabolic syndrome, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This appears particularly true for black patients.
Patients with hypertension (high blood pressure) and metabolic syndrome are at high risk for the complications of cardiovascular disease, according to background information in the article. The metabolic syndrome was defined as hypertension plus at least two of the following factors: diabetes or pre-diabetes; a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30; high triglyceride levels; or low levels of high-density lipoprotein (“good” cholesterol).
Frequent snoring appears to be associated with the development of chronic bronchitis, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Chronic bronchitis involves inflammation of the lower airways accompanied by a persistent cough and the production of mucus or phlegm, according to background information and the article. Snoring appears more common among individuals with bronchitis.
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As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the U.S. population
was 306,340,710. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 21,443,850 apneics in the U.S.
~~ Apnea around the world ~~
As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the world population
was 6,777,286,604. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 474,410,062 apneics in the world.
Those with companions at medical visits happier with medical care
This entry was posted by admin on Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 10:56 am (UTC), and is categorically filed in Health, Top News.
For the past several years, many health care advocates have been urging individuals with complex medical conditions, including sleep disorders, especially if compounded with other health issues, such as asthma, heart failure, diabetes, among other health ailments, to take another person who cares about their health to all health care providers with them.
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