Sleep apnea, a serious medical condition in which breathing stops and starts frequently, includes two types: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. In obstructive sleep apnea, the more common type, your throat muscles relax, causing breathing to stop. The latter occurs when your brain does not send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.
Heart Attack Risk
Sleep apnea may join cholesterol, hypertension and obesity as the main causes of a sudden heart attack, according to research conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers. They reviewed data from 10,701 patients who underwent initial diagnostic sleep laboratory analysis sessions between 1987 and 2003. They found that the presence of obstructive sleep apnea significantly increased a person's chances of suffering cardiac arrest, according to findings presented at a 2008 American Heart Association conference.
Sleep Apnea and Diet
People with severe sleep apnea follow a diet higher in calories, cholesterol and saturated fat than persons with less severe symptoms, according to a study published in the October 2008 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine." Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of Arizona College of Medicine found that women with severe sleep apnea consumed 22 g more of protein, 28 g more of total fat, 88 mg more of cholesterol and 9 g more of saturated fat than participants with fewer sleep disturbances.
Unclear Relationship
The link between obstructive sleep apnea and cholesterol remains unclear. Sleep apnea may lower your levels of high density lipoprotein -- HDL, the good cholesterol that helps move fat out of your bloodstream. Sleep apnea may also raise your level of triglycerides, a type of body fat that acts in ways similar to low density lipoprotein -- LDL cholesterol. Sleep apnea may also lead to poor eating habits that lead to weight gain, obesity and bad cholesterol levels. An older study, but one of the largest, examined the health histories of 6,000 persons and found that persons with obstructive sleep apnea tested higher for LDL cholesterol and triglycerides of similar body mass who did not suffer from sleep apnea, according to the report published in the December 1997 issue of "Sleep."
Other Factors
Excess weight or fat deposits around the upper airway may cause obstructive sleep apnea, but thin people also suffer from sleep apnea. There is still a long way to go in understanding the connection between sleep apnea and cholesterol, but lowering your cholesterol levels will improve your health even if it does not alleviate sleep apnea. You cannot control all risk factors for high cholesterol -- men, older adults and persons with a family history of cholesterol problems prove more likely to develop high cholesterol -- but lifestyle changes may help. Losing weight, reducing your intake of saturated fat, sugar and alcohol, and increasing your level of physical activity may reverse unhealthy cholesterol.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Sleep Apnea
- MayoClinic.com: Sleep Apnea May Be Risk Factor for Sudden Cardiac Death, Mayo Clinic Research Concludes
- "Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine"; Associations of Dietary Intake and Physical Activity with Sleep Disordered Breathing in the Apnea Positive Pressure Efficacy Study; Monica M. Vasquez et al; October 2008
- "Sleep"; The Sleep Heart Health Study: Design, Rationale and Methods; S.F. Quan et al; December 1997
- MayoClinic.com: Sleep Apnea: Risk Factors
- MayoClinic.com: High Cholesterol Causes
