Advertisement
With more Americans living longer than ever before, heart failure is on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over six million American adults have heart failure — but contrary to what you might assume, the term “heart failure” doesn’t mean your heart has stopped beating. Rather, heart failure is a serious condition in which your heart doesn’t pump enough blood to keep your body functioning optimally.
Unfortunately, the signs of heart failure can be difficult to spot, and early symptoms often go unnoticed. Signs of heart failure include shortness of breath during daily activities, difficulty breathing when lying down, weight gain, swelling, and fatigue. Additionally, studies show that a certain thing you do at night can increase your risk of heart failure. Read on to find out what it is and how it could put your heart at risk.
READ NEXT: Drinking water every day may lower your risk of heart failure, says new study.
If you wake up tired or have trouble keeping your eyes open during the day even though you’ve slept through the night, you may be suffering from a common condition that can lead to heart failure. According to a 2018 study published in Journal of the Texas Heart InstituteThis sleep problem is linked to many heart problems such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cardiac arrhythmia, sudden cardiac death and heart failure.
There are two types of heart failure: systolic and diastolic. Systolic heart failure occurs when the left ventricle of your heart does not contract fully, preventing your heart from pumping enough blood around your body. Diastolic heart failure occurs when less blood is pumped through your body because the left ventricle of the heart is not filling with blood properly.
READ NEXT: If you notice this while lying on your back, have your heart checked.
Sleep apnea is a common condition where your breathing stops and starts frequently throughout the night. This prevents your body from getting enough oxygen and puts you at risk of health complications. There are two different types of heart failure-related sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep apnea (CSA).
“In OSA, the airways partially or completely close,” explains Harneet Kaur Walia, MD, Director of Sleep Medicine at Baptist Health’s Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. “In CSA, there is no obstruction in the airways. In this type of sleep apnea, the brain’s drive to breathe is absent.”
According to the 2018 study, the prevalence of OSA in people with heart failure is significantly higher than in the general population. “OSA is strongly associated with high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, heart attack, stroke and heart failure,” warns Kaur Walia. “In patients with heart failure, excess fluid in the upper airways is an additional factor that can contribute to narrowing of the airways. Pressure changes in the chest associated with sleep apnea put stress on the heart, and this effect is greater in patients with heart failure.”
Sleep apnea symptoms to look out for include snoring, morning headaches, mood disorders, insomnia, and nighttime awakenings due to gagging or gasping. Other warning signs to look out for that may not be as easy to spot are increased blood pressure and increased sympathetic nervous system activity, such as accelerated heart rate, dilated pupils, constricted blood vessels.
“People who are overweight, have a large neck, smoke or have chronic lung diseases such as asthma have an increased risk of OSA,” it says Jennifer Mieres, MD, Professor of Cardiology at the Zucker School of Medicine. “In addition, there is a higher prevalence of sleep apnea in men; they are two to three times more likely to have sleep apnea than women. The risk increases for women who are obese and for those who are postmenopausal. Polycystic ovary syndrome, hormonal imbalances, and previous strokes can also increase the risk of sleep apnea.”
Sign up for our daily newsletter to get more health news delivered straight to your inbox.
If you suspect you have sleep apnea, see a doctor who can run a test to determine if you have OSA. There are two types of tests – nocturnal polysomnography and home sleep tests. During a nighttime polysomnography test, doctors monitor your heart, lung and brain activity, breathing patterns, body movements, and blood oxygen levels while you sleep. At-home sleep tests are simplified tests your doctor will perform to measure your heart rate, breathing pattern, and blood oxygen levels throughout the night.
The Mayo Clinic reports that there are therapeutic and surgical treatments for sleep apnea. Therapeutic management of OSA typically involves devices designed to keep the airway open. The most common treatment is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) — a device that delivers air pressure through a mask to keep your airway open while you sleep. Other therapeutic treatments include oral devices that keep your throat open, supplemental oxygen, and Adaptive Servo Ventilation (ASV) airflow devices.
If therapeutic treatments cannot resolve your OSA, surgery may be necessary. Options include removing tissue from the palate and throat, repositioning the jaw, nerve stimulation, and creating a new airway (also called a tracheostomy). A tracheostomy is only required in extreme cases where OSA is potentially life-threatening. Your doctor may recommend a healthy lifestyle for milder cases of OSA, e.g. B. Eating healthy, losing weight, avoiding alcohol and not smoking.
