A great place to start Disorder information source Rated and Reviewed Sleep Links Entrance to all monitored Sleep Forums Search all of Sleepnet.com


Apnea Forum
Posting


Archived Apnea Forum24 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Apnea Forum Homepage.

Re: Apnea and heart disease


Posted by Sherry on February04, 2000 at 07:53:27:

In Reply to: Apnea and heart disease posted by Sleepy Bert on February02, 2000 at 13:26:41:

SB:

When a person has an obstructive apnea and is trying to inhale with great force, a specific thing happens: The chest cavity, producing high negative pressure while trying to suck in air past an obstruction in the throat, also sucks blood from other regions of the body back into the chest. Since the heart is in the chest, it is at the center of the negative pressure. And since it is the center of a fluid pumping system, all the fluid in the blood vessels becomes subjected to the negative presure at the center of the system (the heart) and tries to return to the heart, overloading the heart with high backpressure blood (too much fluid at above normal pressure). This is very detrimental, causing several types of heart damage as well as pulmonary edema.

Ever wonder why a person with apnea has to go urinate so frequently at night? Its because the heart sends a "signal" to the kidneys telling them to take excess fluid out of the bloodstream because the heart determines that it is too full of blood. The heart thinks it is too full, incorrectly, due to an excess of fluid in the blood. Actually, the heart is feeling this way because of the sinister backpressure of blood from the negative chest pressure from the obstructive apneas. The heart does the only thing it can-it cries for help from the kidneys to produce urine. And so the person has to go urinate.

You can get an idea of what is happening if you watch someone who is having an obstructive apnea. The person's chest and abdomen will stongly flex back and forth in opposing directions without moving much, or any, air. These flexing movements are creating the negative forces which are damaging the heart. Look at a person who puts on the CPAP and notice how they breathe then...the strong opposing muscle flexing of the chest and abdomen stops and the chest and abdomen move together in and out with little resistance.

THE heart is just a little pump that tries its best to do its job in peace. Obstructive apneas place hideous strains on the heart including: 1. Damaging backpressure 2. Swings in heartrate from too fast to too slow because the heart is trying to compensate for the rising and falling blood oxygen levels with each apnea all night and 3. Swings in blood pressure up and down with each apnea all night-same reason 4. Oxygen deprivation which acutely causes death of the heart muscle cells themselves. (Luckily we have more than a few heart muscle cells)

Put all this together and you can see why obstructive apnea is especially hard on the heart.

Follow Ups:


Archived Apnea Forum24 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Apnea Forum Homepage

  • IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
  • The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved