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Sleep apnoea and risk of stroke

Best Health News, 2012

A condition that affects people’s breathing while they sleep could raise the chances of having a stroke, researchers warn.
It means you stop breathing for several seconds at a time, and wake momentarily when you restart breathing.
Even if you don’t remember waking up, sleep apnoea can disturb your sleep enough to make you drowsy during the day.
Sleep apnoea can be treated by wearing a mouthpiece or mask overnight, to keep the airways open.
Some research has indicated that sleep apnoea might have more serious consequences, such as making you more likely to have a stroke.
This new study looked at people who’d had a stroke, and who were at risk of having another.
Almost all of the stroke patients had sleep apnoea when tested in the laboratory - 51 out of 56 patients, more than nine in 10.
In addition, people with severe sleep apnoea were more likely to show signs of ‘silent strokes’ - previous strokes that had not caused any obvious problems at the time, but could be seen on brain scans.
The researchers say their results demonstrate that sleep apnoea should be treated as a risk factor for having a stroke, in the same way as high blood pressure.
This study was presented at a medical conference, rather than published in a medical journal, so we’re unable to look closely at the methods and the results.
For example, we don’t know if the researchers took into account any other factors that could put people with sleep apnoea at a higher risk of stroke, such as whether they were overweight, smokers, or had a previous history of heart disease.