Disturbed Sleep and Sleeping Disorders Can Cause Heart Problems

If you're suffering from disturbed sleep and sleeping disorders like sleep apnea, you should seek treatment immediately. Not only will you get a better night's rest, but you will also have a healthier heart.

A new study out of Ohio State University demonstrated that sleep apnea patients who use a machine called a CPAP, or a continuous positive-airway pressure machine, improve their heart's functioning and structure in just a few month's time. The doctors discovered that patients with severe sleep apnea had a heart with an enlarged right side, but CPAP treatment lessened the swelling.

"If you suspect that you or a loved one has obstructive sleep apnea, get evaluated for it sooner rather than later," says Dennis Auckley, the Center for Sleep Medicine's director. "The treatment cannot only make you feel better, it will improve heart function and potentially reduce the risk for cardiovascular complaints later in life."

About 5% of people in the U.S. suffer from sleep apnea, a disturbance that causes the cessation of breathing during sleep, occasionally for one minute or more and sometimes 100s of times every night.