Lleida study associates obstructive sleep apnea with increased cardiovascular risk in patients without previous heart disease

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk in patients without previous heart disease. This is the result of research carried out in Lleida, which has recently been published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a prestigious journal in the field of respiratory medicine. Obstructive sleep apnea affects between 20 and 30% of the adult population and 80% of affected people are undiagnosed.

Previous research, such as the ISAACC study, determined that the application of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with acute coronary syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea has a neutral effect in the secondary prevention of new recurrent cardiovascular events, that is, does not have any positive effect to prevent major cardiovascular events. But this new research demonstrates the detrimental effect of sleep apnea in patients with specific cardiovascular risk profiles.