Treat Sleep Apnea – Cut Heart Attack Risk

COLUMBUS, OH – Researchers at Yale University found that patients suffering from untreated Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) more than doubled their risk of stroke or heart attack in patients over 50 years old.  The effects of obstructive sleep apnea on the human cardiovascular system has been well documented.

The important thing that researchers discussed was that sleep apnea is what is called a “modifiable risk factor”.  This means that if the OSA is treated effectively, the risk of heart attack or stroke for those patients goes down dramatically.  In the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine an article by Minoguchi et al, showed that patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea have certain “markers” in their brains which indicate damage and inflammation.  In this study, OSA patients who used their CPAP for three months significantly lowered the level of those inflammatory “markers”.  While this shows that CPAP treatment works, many, many patients are unable to tolerate using the CPAP machine.

Patients complain about the noise, feeling claustrophobic, masks not fitting properly and just plain hating the machine.  There is a viable alternative for mild to moderate sleep apnea.  Oral appliance therapy for sleep apnea is an approved therapy and most patients find sleeping with an oral appliance very comfortable.  Some patients who have been using a CPAP for many years have found that an oral appliance makes traveling much easier.  Contact Dr. Levy at our Gahanna office at 614-454-3488.  We will be pleased to set up a consultation so you can learn more about oral appliance therapy for treating sleep apnea in the Columbus, Ohio area.