Do sleep disorders have an impact on blood pressure?
In this article, the relationship, perhaps interdependence, between sleep-disordered breathing, hypertension, and obesity is discussed. There is strong evidence that sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension are related. On the one hand, the prevalence of hypertension increases with the number of apnea-hypopnea episodes per hour of sleep, whereas on the other hand, treating sleep-disordered breathing reduces hypertension. It has also been shown that this relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension is stronger in individuals with a high body mass index. Thus, it is concluded that in individuals presenting with hypertension, sleep-disordered breathing, or increased weight, the two other variables must be investigated and treated if present.
Lenfant
Claude
C
World Hypertension League, and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. lenfantc@prodigy.net
D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology