Research is showing that the characteristic snorting and gasping of sleep apnea can spur potentially fatal heartbeat abnormalities. Senior study author Dr. Susan Redline was quoted in Health News saying, “we studied the specific risk of cardiac arrhythmias and sleep apnea — do these events act as a trigger for cardiac abnormalities?” she said. “And we established that there is a close temporal relationship.”

Heartbeat patterns seen during normal breathing against those occurring within 90 seconds of a sleep apnea episode were compared during the research. The researchers focused on atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, a too-fast beating of the lower blood-pumping chambers that can cause sudden death. The research, which consisted of 57 people with varying ranges of sleep apnea disorders, showed 62 arrhythmias. Because of these findings, it’s important that doctors be alert for the possibility of sleep apnea in people who have heart rhythm abnormalities.

For the rest of the study, visit NorthShore University HealthSystem’s news section.

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According to the American Heart Association, “Atrial fibrillation is a disorder found in about 2.2 million Americans. During atrial fibrillation, the heart’s two small upper chambers (the atria) quiver instead of beating effectively. Blood isn’t pumped completely out of them, so it may pool and clot. If a piece of a blood clot in the atria leaves the heart and becomes lodged in an artery in the brain, a stroke results. About 15 percent of strokes occur in people with atrial fibrillation”.
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