Sleep apnea disorder, also known as sleep apnea is one of the conditions associated with stroke risk factors. The news that sleep apnea is a risk factor for stroke is not new. We have long known that sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of stroke. But new research shows just how common sleep apnea is in stroke survivors. In particular, these results indicate how often sleep apnea occurs in afflicted patients silent stroke.
What does it mean by silent stroke ?
- Silent stroke e has no identifiable visible symptoms.
- In most cases, people are suffering silent stroke didn't even know they had a stroke.
- Silent stroke are referred to as "silent" because they do not display the outward physical symptoms usually associated with a stroke, including slurred speech, paralysis, and serious illness.
- Silent stroke is a serious health problem, which can cause irreversible damage to the brain, especially to areas of the brain that regulate mood, thoughts, cognition, and memory.
- Silent stroke itself is a trigger factor for other types of stroke, including major strokes.
Researchers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham and from the German University of Technology Dresden collaborated to investigate the frequency and severity of obstructive sleep apnea as a risk factor for silent stroke . Their results showed high rates of sleep apnea among patients with silent stroke .
Over an 18-month period, researchers evaluated 56 people who had been identified as having acute cerebral ischemia, which is a type of stroke that interferes with blood flow to the brain. Within 5 days of stroke symptoms, patients were evaluated using MRI and CT scans to identify specific details of the effects of stroke on the brain as well as the severity of their sleep apnea. Researchers found:
- Sleep apnea occurred in 51 of 56 stroke patients evaluated, accounting for 91%
- Of these 51 patients, 29% had severe sleep apnea and 30% had moderate sleep apnea
- Severe sleep apnea is present in 58% of patients suffering from the disorder silent stroke
- Severe sleep apnea appeared in 38% of patients with chronic microvascular changes, small lesions on the white part of the brain associated with it silent stroke)
- Sleep apnea and its severity can be a strong predictor for silent stroke
- Patients with severe sleep apnea may experience slower progression of healing and are less successful in the early stages of stroke recovery than patients without sleep apnea.
What we don't know from the results of this study is whether sleep apnea is a contributing factor to strokes or are people who have had strokes more likely to develop sleep apnea? When a person has sleep apnea, their airways become irritated during sleep. These airway disorders temporarily block breathing and reduce oxygen levels in the bloodstream. People who have moderate to severe sleep apnea have many respiratory problems, even hundreds, every night. (In a recent study, researchers defined severe sleep apnea as having respiratory distress at 30 times per hour of sleep).
Learning more about how respiratory distress affects the brain and can lead to stroke risk is an important avenue for further research.
Sleep apnea is known to be associated with an increased risk for many serious and chronic diseases. Obstructive sleep apnea has also been linked to:
Cardiovascular problems. Apart from being a risk factor for stroke, sleep apnea is also linked to hypertension, heart disease and heart failure. The results showed that obstructive sleep apnea increased a person's risk of having a heart attack by 30% over a period of 4-5 years.
Diabetes. There is increasing evidence of a link between diabetes and sleep apnea. The study found high rates of obstructive sleep apnea among men with type 2 diabetes. Most of these sleep apnea cases were diagnosed before the study.
Sexual dysfunction. Sleep apnea has been shown to cause sexual problems in both men and women. This study shows women with sleep apnea have higher rates of sexual problems, both with sexual performance and with satisfaction. The study revealed that men with erectile dysfunction were more than twice as likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea.
We must know about how sleep apnea can occur, as well as its role as a risk factor for stroke. What's clear is that sleep apnea is a warning for strokes and other serious health problems. Examination of sleep apnea conditions and checking sleep health in general are important measures for the diagnostic and risk assessment process for the patient.
If sleep apnea and other sleep disorders are ignored, then we ignore the opportunity to identify a patient's risk of worse disease.
