Study: Sleep Apnea Could Cause Nighttime Heart Attacks

Sep 102010

The news story this blog entry is based on corroborates the claims of Happeh Theory. The news story reports on a study that speculates sleep apnea could be a factor in more nighttime heart attacks than daytime heart attacks. ( Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing or the inability to breathe. )

According to Happeh Theory, sleep apnea can cause nighttime heart attack. One reason why is that a person who wakes up from sleep disoriented and finds they cannot breathe, will usually become frightened and hysterical. If that fear and hysteria are strong enough the individual can literally give themselves a heart attack.

There is also a physical connection between the heart and sleep apnea through a third mechanism. Relatively mild changes to that third mechanism will cause sleep apnea. Stronger changes can cause heart attack. That third mechanism is more active during the day, which enables it to resist what is called “sleep” apnea and the related heart attacks.

It is possible for a person to experience the same type of inability to breathe that is labeled “sleep apnea” during the daytime. The author suspects daytime experiences of what is called “sleep apnea” may be what is called “an asthma attack”. The author further suspects placing the blame for asthma attacks on material floating in the air, is a sign of the ignorance of scientists of the bodily factors that can interfere with the breathing ability.

The original news story is reprinted next.

A new study has shown that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) could lead to more nighttime heart attacks than daytime heart attacks. OSA is a problem in which the tissues at the back of the throat collapse temporarily during sleep resulting in the upper airways becoming partially or completely blocked causing interrupted breathing several times per night. The treatment involves the use of a special breathing device that alleviates the blockage by pushing air into the throat.

Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the study recommends that people who suffer heart attacks sleeping at night be screened for obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Virend K. Somers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues studied 92 heart attack patients who underwent overnight sleep tests 2-3 weeks post their heart attack and OSA was identified in 64 or 70 %. The frequency of heart attacks was higher in OSA patients from midnight to 6 am, while patients who do not have OSA suffer maximum attacks between 6 am to noon.

Somers’ group concludes that the blood pressure, nerve, and hormonal changes wrought by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) could lead to blockage of the coronary arteries and heart attack. These findings further suggest that nighttime heart attacks may be the reason for the increased likelihood of nighttime sudden death that has been reported in OSA patients

Alisha Lopej

The obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing is periodically obstructed during sleep, often due to a prolapsed tongue or swollen throat. One of the typical causes for this problem is excessive fat around the neck.
http://www.justcancer.org/obstructive-sleep-apnea-linked-to-cancer.html