Severe sleep apnea contributes to poor blood pressure

A new research has suggested that severe sleep apnea contributed to the risk of increased blood pressure level despite the use of medication to control it.

Dr. Harneet Walia, assistant professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University said that this was an important finding from a clinical perspective as poor blood pressure control in the patients taking multiple antihypertensive medications, made them particularly vulnerable to increased cardiovascular risk.

Timothy Morgenthaler, American Academy of Sleep Medicine President, said that over one-third of patients with hypertension and nearly eight out of 10 patients with treatment resistant hypertension had obstructive sleep apnea.

Morgenthaler further suggested that people who had high blood pressure should talk to a doctor about their risk for sleep apnea.

This study is published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.