Heart Disease In The News

Sleep apnea may cause hypertension
March 30, 2001

In a medical conference held this week at the National Institutes of Health, doctors from the Mayo Clinic report that patients with unexplained hypertension or heart disease should be checked for sleep apnea.

Patients with sleep apnea stop breathing for prolonged periods while asleep.  These "apneic" episodes cause many physiologic changes, some of which persist while the patients are awake, that can promote high blood pressure.  The Mayo doctors suggest that physicians evaluate patients with hypertension for sleep apnea, especially patients whose high blood pressure proves difficult to treat.

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