More than half of people with hypertension also have sleep apnea, leading to nighttime oxygen deprivation that can place undue stress on the heart, especially in the winter, a doctor said.
As temperatures plunge, the conditions are particularly dangerous, with winter being the peak season for sudden deaths during sleep, Wanfang Hospital Department of Otorhinolaryngology director Chen Po-yueh (陳伯岳) said.
“The most common symptom of obstructive sleep apnea is loud snoring. Snoring is not merely a nuisance — it can be a potentially deadly warning sign in winter,” he said. “Chronic snoring causes repeated nighttime oxygen deprivation, forcing blood vessels to constrict and blood pressure to spike, creating a hidden time bomb for cardiovascular disease.”
Photo: Taipei Times
Sleep apnea causes the airway to repeatedly collapse during sleep, placing the body in a state of “intermittent hypoxia,” he said.
The oxygen deprivation triggers the sympathetic nervous system, accelerating the heart rate and causing severe vasoconstriction, which leads to abnormal nighttime surges in blood pressure.
Over time, damage and hardening of blood vessel walls significantly increase the risk of arrhythmia, myocardial infarction and stroke, Chen said.
“During winter, falling temperatures already constrict blood vessels. When combined with nighttime hypoxia from sleep apnea, the heart’s workload can reach its limit,” he said, adding that more than 50 percent of people with hypertension he treats also have sleep apnea.
“If they rely solely on blood pressure medication without addressing the underlying sleep apnea, a fatal incident could occur at any time during the night,” Chen added.
Sleep apnea also hampers weight loss, as breathing interruptions prevent deep sleep, reducing leptin secretion and making the brain less responsive to satiety signals, he said.
At the same time, increased secretion of ghrelin — the “hunger hormone” — heightens appetite and cravings for high-calorie, high-sugar foods, he said.
“As people gain weight, fat in the throat and beneath the tongue further compresses the airway, while excess abdominal fat presses on the diaphragm, reducing respiratory drive. That creates a vicious cycle in which weight gain worsens snoring, which in turn promotes more weight gain,” he said.
Weight control and the use of a continuous positive airway pressure device can significantly improve sleep apnea, which is not entirely irreversible.
Separately, sleep technologist Chen Yi-chieh (陳奕潔) urged people experiencing loud snoring, frequent daytime fatigue, being observed by a partner to have stopped breathing or experience choking during sleep, or those with hypertension or a body mass index of more than 35, to seek medical advice.
“High-risk people should not ignore the condition and should arrange for a medical diagnosis, including sleep testing, as soon as possible,” she said. “Home sleep testing allows professional evaluation of sleep apnea to be conducted in a familiar environment.”
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