Severe Sleep Apnea Ups Stroke Risk in Elderly

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, August 4, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Elderly people who suffer from severe sleep apnea are more than twice as likely to have the most common kind of stroke, report investigators from Spain.

The result held true even after researchers controlled their data to take other factors that could impact the development of stroke into account. They say this finding calls for greater attention to sleep apnea in the elderly population and more vigilance on the part of family members to identify pauses in breathing -- known as apneas -- in their elderly relatives. This is particularly important in the elderly because the key symptom of sleep apnea -- snoring -- is less prevalent in that age group. Older people are also less likely to complain of daytime sleepiness, which is another hallmark of sleep apnea in younger people.

The study was conducted among nearly 400 people age, 70 to 100 living in a small town in Spain. All were interviewed about various health factors and then underwent standard sleep testing to identify sleep apnea. Over six years, 20 ischemic strokes occurred in the group. People with severe sleep apnea had 2.5-the risk of having a stroke when compared to people without sleep apnea or with mild or moderate forms of the condition.

Sleep apnea can be treated effectively with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. CPAP is delivered via a bedside device that helps keep the airway open during sleep. The authors call for a randomized trial to investigate the influence of CPAP therapy on stroke to complete the demonstration of a causative relationship between sleep apnea and stroke found in their study.

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SOURCE: Stroke, published online Aug. 3, 2006