For cardiologists, one sleep-related condition of great concern is "sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome" ().
It's the kind of snoring (purring) when you sleep, snoring high for a while, low for a while, sometimes stopping, not panting for a long time, and then suddenly gasping for breath.
This kind of sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome, snoring when sleeping, as if sleeping soundly, in fact, sleep is not good, there is danger.
The danger is that when sleeping, breathing is weakened or even stopped repeatedly, people will lack oxygen, and the condition of the whole body will change, which can cause disease and can cause death when severe. This is closely related to cardiovascular disease.
★ When sleep apnea and hypopnea are low, the patient's body is deprived of oxygen, and the carbon dioxide that needs to be excreted will accumulate, and the pH in the blood will change. Because carbon dioxide increases to a certain extent in the blood, it is "respiratory acidosis".
★ Among them, there is also a problem with neuromodulation, the sympathetic nerve and the vagus nerve alternately compete, when the breathing is weakened and paused, it is the vagus nerve that is the mainstay, and the heart rate slows down or even stops; when the sympathetic nerve is strong, the heart rate will suddenly accelerate. Among them, there will also be various arrhythmias, serious, some people will suddenly wake up at night, panic, and even sudden death.
★ Breathing disorders, lack of oxygen from time to time, coupled with the alternating strength and weakness of the sympathetic nerves, blood pressure will fluctuate significantly, high and low, and the damage to blood vessels and the heart will be large. What should have been lower at night will raise blood pressure, even higher than during the day. Therefore, patients with sleep apnea and hypopnea often present for high blood pressure, especially nocturnal hypertension.
Some patients, after controlling sleep apnea, will lower their high blood pressure and even do not have to take medicine. This type of hypertension, often referred to as "secondary hypertension", is due to the syndrome of sleep apnea hypopnea ().
If a patient has hypertension themselves, sleep apnea can aggravate the hypertension, making the hypertension more stubborn and difficult to control.
In such hypertensive patients, the damage to the kidneys is also aggravated, and the increase in urine albumin and the decrease in glomerular filtration rate will also be obvious.
★ When normal breathing alternates with apnea and hypoventilation, the pressure in the chest cavity is also abnormal, which will affect the ejaculation and blood return of the heart, affect the function of the heart, and the heart will fail for a long time.
★ In addition, sleep apnea, hypopnea caused by disorders can also cause abnormal blood lipid metabolism, blood sugar metabolism abnormalities, uric acid metabolism abnormalities, and even blood homocysteine will also rise, look, "three highs", "four highs", and even "five highs" have come out.
The blood vessels and heart are damaged, and there are three highs, four highs, and five highs, and the process of atherosclerosis is accelerated. Therefore, people with sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome will also have an increase in coronary heart disease, and some people have angina in the middle of the night.
In such patients, long-term lack of oxygen at night, the hemoglobin in the blood will increase. Therefore, it is not a good thing that hemoglobin is high, one is that the blood is viscous; the other is that there may be other diseases. Such a patient should also think of checking sleep breathing.
Therefore, patients with cardiovascular disease should pay attention to checking sleep breathing.
Because in some patients, sleep-disordered breathing may be the cause. By controlling this cause, we can alleviate and improve the state of many chronic diseases.
★ Who is susceptible to sleep-disordered breathing?
Obese people, people with short necks, middle-aged and elderly people, people with enlarged tonsils, nasal obstruction, people who drink alcohol and smoke for a long time, people who take sleeping pills, and some people who have chronic diseases such as hypothyroidism, Parkinson's disease, gastroesophageal reflux, etc., some people are also genetic.
★ What are the symptoms of patients with sleep-disordered breathing other than snoring?
You can wake up at night, increase in nocturnal urine; get up in the morning headache, sleepiness during the day, memory loss, you can also have weight gain, if it is serious, psychology, intelligence, behavior may be abnormal.
★ How to check for sleep breathing disorders?
Sleep breath monitoring. If you check for apnea or hypopnea more than 5 times per hour, the diagnosis can be made.
★ How is sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome treated?
Continuous positive positive pressure therapy with a noninvasive ventilator is preferred. That is, when sleeping, wear a mask or nose mask, connect to the ventilator, and let the ventilator drive the breathing when their breathing is weak or stopped, maintain normal ventilation, and provide normal oxygen.
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