Is Sleep Apnea Treatment Effective?
By: Charlotte Ames
Updated: May 23, 2012
A new study suggests that a popular treatment for sleep apnea doesn't necessarily lower the risk of high blood pressure and heart problems.
Sleep apnea's been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disorders, and it causes people to be
sleepy during the day.
Doctors from the Research Institute in Llieda, Spain studied 725 patients with obstructive sleep apnea, who didn't suffer from daytime sleepiness. Half received CPAP treatment and the other half didn't. Both groups were followed for about four years.
Researchers found a slight decrease in high blood pressure and new heart problems in the C-PAP group, but say it wasn't statistically significant.
However, they noted that their study may have limited power to detect a significant difference, and that a larger study or longer follow-up might have been able to identify a significant association between treatment and outcome.
Their analysis suggested that CPAP treatment may reduce the incidence of high blood pressure or heart problems in patients who used the CPAP a 4 hours a night or longer."
Sleep apnea's been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disorders, and it causes people to be
sleepy during the day.
Doctors from the Research Institute in Llieda, Spain studied 725 patients with obstructive sleep apnea, who didn't suffer from daytime sleepiness. Half received CPAP treatment and the other half didn't. Both groups were followed for about four years.
Researchers found a slight decrease in high blood pressure and new heart problems in the C-PAP group, but say it wasn't statistically significant.
However, they noted that their study may have limited power to detect a significant difference, and that a larger study or longer follow-up might have been able to identify a significant association between treatment and outcome.
Their analysis suggested that CPAP treatment may reduce the incidence of high blood pressure or heart problems in patients who used the CPAP a 4 hours a night or longer."
Charlotte Ames is the area's only local Health Reporter and brings you the latest medical health news weeknights. You can catch Healthcast on WTAJ News at 5:00pm and her Health Headlines report on WTAJ News at 5:30pm.