New study links sleep apnea to increased risk of stroke

• Hugh Magnus knows fitful sleep: He suffered through years when, each night, he would stop breathing and wake every 15 minutes, leaving him chronically exhausted.
• Mr. Magnus purchased a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device; at bedtime, he dons a small mask and the machine pumps air into his mouth and nose to prevent the involuntary lapses in breathing that characterize sleep apnea and cause a host of health problems.
• But, in early October, Mr. Magnus took a trip to Jamaica and, not wanting the hassle of carrying the CPAP device through airport security, he left it behind.
• The study shows that people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea are four times as likely to suffer a stroke as those who do not have the disorder.
• Practically speaking, that means sleep apnea increases a person's chance of having a stroke even more than smoking or diabetes, two well-established risk factors.
• The new findings are important because stroke -- most commonly caused by a blood clot interrupting blood flow to part of the brain -- is a leading cause of death and disability.
• "The good news is that there are effective treatments for sleep apnea," Dr. Douglas Bradley, director of the sleep research laboratory at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, said in an interview.
• It is also recommended that apnea sufferers not drink alcohol or take sleeping pills before bed, and that they not sleep on their backs, because those factors exacerbate breathing problems.
• "But the best treatment is CPAP," Dr. Bradley said.
• "Our hypothesis is that treating with CPAP will prevent strokes."
• There is also evidence that people with sleep apnea suffer more debilitating physical and mental injuries when they have a stroke, so CPAP treatment might also mitigate disability.