Cardiovascular disorders (CVDs) are the primary cause of death that occur around the globe every year. According to World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 17.5 million people died of CVDs in the year 2012. This accounts for 31% of all deaths occurred worldwide. In the United Kingdom, around 155,000 deaths are recorded each year due to CVDs. An average of 425 individuals suffer from CVDs and death occurs once every three minutes (British Heart Foundation, 2015). On the other hand, respiratory disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma had taken lesser amount of victims each year. Globally, less than 3 million people are …show more content…
Sleep apnea is categorized into two types: obstructive and central. Obstructive sleep apnea happens when there is an abnormal collapse of the pharyngeal airway that occurs during sleep. Snoring and vigorous inspiratory efforts cause frequent arousal and excessive daytime drowsiness. Central sleep apnea happens when hyperventilation occurs periodically with regular breathing during sleep. It causes poor prognosis in patients with heart failure. There is an evidence that shows the relationship between sleep apnea and a group of proinflammatory and prothrombin factors in the formation of atherosclerosis. In recent epidemiological studies, sleep apnea is shown to affect 16% and 5% of men and women of age 30 to 65 years respectively (Bounhoureet al., …show more content…
During this period, excessive negative intrathoracic pressure will be generated, causing an increase in left ventricular afterload, reduce in cardiac output and progression of pump failure. Increased afterload and hypoxia can also make patients more prone to myocardial ischemia and arrhythmias (Bradley and Floras, 1996). Apart from sleep apnea being associated with cardiovascular diseases, patients who are suffering from pulmonary hypertension (PH), a rare lung disorder, will also eventually develop cardiovascular diseases.Patients might show symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, angina, dizziness and fast heartbeat (The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 2014). In this case, the blood vessels that transport blood from the heart to the lungs become narrower, blocked or destroyed. This lowers the ability of blood to flow through the vessels. Hence, the blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries will increase above normal levels. As the pressure rises, the lower right heart chamber tend to work harder to pump blood through the lungs, which causes heart muscle to exhaust and after some time, fails to work (Mayo Clinic,