Media Report
May 23, 2012Dr. James Rowley comments in ABC News report examining new sleep apnea research
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Hypertension/sleep-apnea-heart/story?id=16401036
Sleep apnea may prove to be a treatable cause of high blood pressure, according to research released today that suggests wearing a special breathing mask at night may protect apnea patients from the hypertension. Doctors most often treat sleep apnea by having their patients use devices that employ a technique called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, which delivers mild air pressure through a nasal mask, to keep their airways open throughout sleep. Two separate studies released today by Dr. Ferran Barbe and Dr. Jose M. Marin, suggest that CPAP may reduce the risk of hypertension among apnea patients. “Barbe's finding that those patients who adhered to therapy had a decreased incidence of hypertension" is in my opinion quite powerful and supports the relationship found in the Marin study," said Dr. James Rowley, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Detroit Receiving Hospital in Detroit and faculty member at Wayne State University. "The Marin study in particular was a more 'real-world' study and had a longer follow-up period so is in my opinion strongly supports the statement that OSA is associated with increased risk of hypertension."
Sleep apnea may prove to be a treatable cause of high blood pressure, according to research released today that suggests wearing a special breathing mask at night may protect apnea patients from the hypertension. Doctors most often treat sleep apnea by having their patients use devices that employ a technique called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, which delivers mild air pressure through a nasal mask, to keep their airways open throughout sleep. Two separate studies released today by Dr. Ferran Barbe and Dr. Jose M. Marin, suggest that CPAP may reduce the risk of hypertension among apnea patients. “Barbe's finding that those patients who adhered to therapy had a decreased incidence of hypertension" is in my opinion quite powerful and supports the relationship found in the Marin study," said Dr. James Rowley, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Detroit Receiving Hospital in Detroit and faculty member at Wayne State University. "The Marin study in particular was a more 'real-world' study and had a longer follow-up period so is in my opinion strongly supports the statement that OSA is associated with increased risk of hypertension."
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