Obstructive Sleep Apnea syndrome (also known as the OSA syndrome) is the most common form of breathing interruption during sleep. This syndrome leads to chronic diseases with various consequences (1, 2, 8, 9, 10).
- arterial hypertension (in most cases of studies where blood pressure was measured while treating the OSA syndrome, the blood pressure level lowered dramatically during day and night (11),
- atherosclerosis causing angina pectoris
- consequently heart or brain stroke (3 to 4 time higher risk)
- heart failure
- cardiac arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmia, bradyarrhythmia)
- tachyarrhythmia often follows apneas and can increase the risk of sudden death (4)
- pulmonary hypertension, especially in case of patients with COPD,
- diabetes (12)
- obesity
- depression, ED, GERD, Restless Legs Syndrome (3,13)
- metabolic syndrome (14)
- premature death