The Hidden Impact of Sleep Apnoea on Heart and Brain Health: Why Early Screening Matters

In today's fast-paced world, people often ignore signs of a stressful life like fatigue, irritability, and trouble concentrating. But what if these symptoms that don't seem like a big deal are actually hiding a big problem?

Sleep apnea is a common sleep problem that doesn't get enough attention. Not only does it make it harder to sleep, but it can also hurt your heart, brain, and health in general over time.

More and more people are coming to Prakash Hospitals with chronic fatigue, headaches, and high blood pressure that couldn't be controlled. Later, it was discovered that they had sleep apnea. Knowing what this illness is and how to treat it early can save lives.

What Does Sleep Apnea Mean?

People who have sleep apnea have trouble breathing when they sleep.
These breaks can last anywhere from a few seconds to almost a minute and happen dozens or even hundreds of times a night. When this happens, the brain wakes up for a short time so the body can start breathing again. This is because the blood's oxygen level drops. A lot of people don't even know this is going on.

There are three main kinds of sleep apnea:

1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):
   This is the most common type of sleep apnea. When the muscles in your throat relax too much while you sleep, your airway can close up.

2. Central Sleep Apnea (CSA):
   In this case, the brain doesn't send the right signals to the muscles that control breathing.

3. Complex Sleep Apnoea Syndrome:
   A combination of central and obstructive sleep apnoea.

OSA is the most common of these, especially in adults who snore a lot or are overweight.

Warning Signs and Symptoms

Many people don't get diagnosed with sleep apnea because their symptoms don't seem serious or related to sleep.
Some signs that are common are:

• Loud, long-term snoring that your partner can hear often
• Choking or gasping in your sleep
• Getting up a lot at night
• A dry mouth or headaches in the morning
• Feeling tired or sleepy during the day
• Not being able to concentrate or being angry
• High blood pressure that doctors can't figure out

A lot of people get used to being tired every day because these symptoms come on slowly and they think it's normal. But if you don't get help for sleep apnea, it can slowly put a lot of stress on your heart and brain.

What Sleep Apnea Does to Your Heart

Your blood oxygen levels drop a lot when you stop breathing a lot while you sleep.
When you're under a lot of stress, your body makes chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol that keep you awake. But if this "fight or flight" response happens every night, it could be bad for you.

• High Blood Pressure (Hypertension):
  When you stop breathing, your blood pressure goes up and down all the time. Even with medicine, this can make high blood pressure last a long time and be hard to control.

• Arrhythmia:
  Problems with sleep and not getting enough oxygen can cause irregular heartbeats, like atrial fibrillation, which makes a stroke more likely.

• Coronary Artery Disease:
  The lining of blood vessels gets damaged by constant drops in oxygen. This makes arteries swell and narrow, a big reason for heart disease.

• Heart Failure:
  If you don't get treatment for sleep apnea, it can damage the heart muscle over time, which makes heart failure more likely.

• Sudden Cardiac Death:
  Studies show that people with severe sleep apnea are more likely to have their hearts stop suddenly while they sleep because their oxygen levels are unstable.

Our cardiologists at Prakash Hospitals often work with pulmonologists and sleep specialists to find heart problems caused by untreated sleep apnea — especially in patients who don't respond well to standard cardiac treatments.

Effects on the Brain and Mental Health

For your brain to work well, it needs a steady flow of oxygen and deep sleep cycles.
Apnoea keeps getting in the way, which takes away both of those.

• Problems with Memory and Focus:
  Not getting enough sleep can affect the REM stage, which is important for learning and remembering things. This makes it hard to pay attention and remember things.

• Mood Disorders:
  Not getting enough sleep can make you more anxious, sad, and angry, which is often wrongly blamed on “work stress.”

• Risk of Stroke:
  Blood vessels in the brain can become weaker or damaged if they don't get enough oxygen and their blood pressure goes up and down. This makes ischemic strokes more likely.

• Dementia Link:
  New research shows that long-term sleep apnea is strongly linked to cognitive decline because not getting enough oxygen speeds up the aging of the brain.

Who Is at Risk?

Sleep apnea can happen to anyone, even kids, but some things make it more likely:

• Being too heavy or too thin
• Having a neck that is too thick or an airway that is too narrow
• A family history of sleep apnea
• Smoking or drinking
• Men over 40 years old (although women after menopause are also at risk)
• A deviated septum or chronic nasal congestion

A lot of fit people also have sleep apnea because of the way their jaws are shaped, their tonsils are too big, or other physical reasons.

How to Figure Out What It Is

A sleep study, also called polysomnography, is the only way to tell for sure if you have sleep apnea. While you sleep, this test keeps track of your heart rate, brain waves, breathing patterns, and oxygen levels. You can do it at home with portable diagnostic tools or in a sleep lab at the hospital.

At Prakash Hospitals, our team of experts can do sleep studies in the lab or at home, so patients can choose which one is more comfortable for them. The results help figure out what kind of sleep apnea you have and how bad it is, helping you plan further treatment.

How to Treat: Getting Back to Sleep

Once you know you have sleep apnea, you can treat it well. The treatment depends on what caused the problem and how bad it is.

1. Changes to the Way You Live

• Losing even 5–10% of your body weight can make it much easier for air to get through.

• Don't drink alcohol or take sedatives because they relax the muscles in your throat and make your symptoms worse.

• Sleep on your side instead of your back to help keep your airways open.

• Stop smoking: Smoking makes the tissues in your airways swell, which makes them more likely to break down.

2. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)

The best way to treat moderate to severe OSA is with CPAP. A CPAP machine keeps the airway open while you sleep by sending gentle air pressure through a mask. Most people notice that their focus and energy get better within a few days of using it.

3. Oral Devices

For mild to moderate cases, custom-made dental devices move the tongue or jaw to keep the air moving.

4. Surgical Options

Surgery might be an option if structural problems like enlarged tonsils, nasal blockages, or a deviated septum make it hard to breathe. Minimally invasive procedures, such as UPPP (Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) or nasal septoplasty, can provide long-lasting relief.

5. Adaptive Devices and Positional Therapy

Newer wearable devices help the body learn how to stay on its side while sleeping or change the position of the airway while resting.

Why Screening Early Is So Important

One of the worst things about sleep apnea is that it gets worse without you realizing it. Patients often wait until problems arise, such as uncontrolled high blood pressure or heart issues, before seeking help because symptoms like snoring or tiredness don't seem serious. Early screening can stop this chain reaction.

Here are some things early diagnosis can help you avoid:

• Long-term stress on the heart and blood vessels

• Stroke and memory loss

• Poor work performance and accidents due to daytime sleepiness

• Mood swings and sadness

• Long-term metabolic issues, such as diabetes and obesity

Prakash Hospitals strongly advises that individuals with sleep apnea undergo screening if they have:

• Resistant hypertension (high blood pressure that doesn't go down with medicine)
• Heavy snoring
• Arrhythmia or heart failure
• Extreme daytime sleepiness

Integrative Care at Prakash Hospitals

Sleep apnea can affect the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems, among others. This is why Prakash Hospitals has set up an integrated care model in which pulmonologists, cardiologists, ENT specialists, and neurologists all work together to find out what's wrong with patients and treat them as a whole.

Our method includes:

• Tests for sleep and diagnosis

• Help with BiPAP and CPAP therapy

• ENT exams to look for structural causes

• Advice on how to lose weight and live a healthy life

• Follow-up care for heart or brain symptoms

This cross-disciplinary model makes sure that all of the underlying factors — from the heart's rhythm to the airway's anatomy — are carefully looked at.

When to See a Doctor

If you or someone you care about snores loudly, has trouble sleeping, or feels tired all day for no reason, it's time to see a doctor.
If you don't pay attention to sleep apnea, it can hurt your heart and brain in ways you won't notice until it's too late.

Final Thoughts

Sleep isn't a luxury; it's something your body needs to stay healthy and heal itself. When you keep waking up in the middle of the night, the effects go beyond just being tired. Sleep apnea slowly hurts your brain and heart health, but if you get diagnosed and treated quickly, you can completely control it.

We want everyone to breathe and sleep better at Prakash Hospitals.
To do this, we focus on finding problems early, teaching patients, and treating them with a team of specialists. You can get your life back by getting your sleep back.