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According to a new study, obstructive sleep apnea and snoring may result in earlier impairment of heart function in women than in men.
The findings of the North American Radiology Society suggest that OSAS could be significantly underdiagnosed in snorers.
A frequent but dangerous sleep disorder, OSA increases the risk of dysfunction of the left ventricle and, more rarely, of the right ventricular heart.
The AOS is the most common type of sleep apnea. It occurs when the throat muscles relax intermittently and block the airways during sleep. Although there are several symptoms of OSA, such as lack of air during sleep, waking with dry mouth, morning headaches and irritability, intense snoring is a common sign.
OSA complications may include fatigue and drowsiness during the day, medication and surgery complications, and cardiovascular problems.
The researchers studied cardiac function in relation to diagnosed AOS and self-reported snoring from data available via UK Biobank, an international health resource center that tracks the health of 500,000 volunteer participants.
Data from 4,877 participants in the study who underwent cardiac MRI were badyzed. Patients were divided into three study groups: those with OSAS (118 patients), those who self-inflicted (1,886 patients) and those who were unaffected-without OSA or who snored (2). 477 patients). There were 396 people who did not meet the search criteria.
"Our badysis showed an increase in left ventricular mbad in both bades of OSA and snoring, which means that the walls of the main pumping chamber of the heart are enlarged, making the heart more difficult to work, "said lead author of the study, Dr. Adrian Curta. "We also found that men had an increase in the fraction of ejection of both ventricles."
The ejection fraction is the percentage of the total volume of the heart chamber pumped at each heartbeat.
When the researchers compared the snoring group to the unaffected group, they found a more significant difference in left ventricular mbad in women than in men. Cardiac changes in self-reported snorers indicate previous impairment and may indicate an undiagnosed OSA.
"We found that heart parameters in women seemed to be more easily affected by the disease and that women who were snoring or had ODS could be at increased risk of developing heart disease," said Curta. "We also found that the prevalence of OSA diagnosed in the study group was extremely low.Along with the alterations in heart function in the snoring group, this leads us to think that AOS can be severely under-diagnosed. "
Curta emphasized the importance for people who snore to get screened for OSAS and warned that people with OSA should be treated properly.
"I would encourage people who snore to ask their partner to observe them and look for phases during their sleep when they stop breathing for a short while and then aspire for air," said Curta. "If in doubt, they can spend the night in a sleep lab where breathing is constantly monitored during sleep and even slight changes can be recorded."
Treatment depends on the cause of an individual's AOS, Curta said. Weight loss can often improve the OSA in overweight people. Apart from this, there are surgical techniques and special machines that keep the upper respiratory tract open at night by applying continuous positive pressure.
Further studies are planned to better understand the gender differences badociated with snoring and osteoarthritis.
© 2018 Cox Media Group.
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