Loud Snoring May Lead to Sudden Death

oxygenA team led by Virend Somers, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn studied whether sleep apnoea poses risk to sudden cardiac death among patients. The team analyzed the results of the diagnostic polysomnogram, a machine used to detect sleep disorders, at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center of 10,701 participants with an average age of 53 years old over a 15-year period from 1987 to 2003.

All the participants had never had a  cardiac arrest in their lifetime prior to the test and 68 percent were male. The study found that among those diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea, 121 patients had a sudden cardiac death and 21 patients had a resuscitated cardiac arrest within the 5-year monitoring period.

Experts think that obstructive sleep apnoea, which causes lack of oxygen in the brain and other body tissues can cause tissue necrosis and death of cells. A person who has sleep apnoea may suddenly wake up at night due to hypoxemia, and along with this sudden waking up are changes in his or her body such as an increase in heart rate and the elevation of blood pressure. These are cardiovascular risk factors that may lead to a heart attack. Sleep apnoea predisposes to hypoxemia or low blood oxygen levels, giving rise to necrosis and the formation of plaques within the blood vessels.

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Somnowell Inventor - Visiting Professor Simon Ash FDS MSc MOrth BDS

Prof. Ash is the inventor of the highly successful SOMNOWELL Chrome device for snoring and sleep apnoea.

The Somnowell Chrome is made to exacting standards in the Somnowell laboratory under the supervision of Visiting Professor Simon Ash. Prof. Ash and his master technicians create each Somnowell Chrome device using their wealth of experience and expertise.

Prof. Ash works at the forefront of his profession. He is a Consultant and Specialist Orthodontist with over 30 years clinical experience, with a special interest in sleep related breathing disorders, TMJD, and bruxism. He currently works in Harley Street London and two private hospitals in London as part of a multi-disciplinary team managing snoring and sleep apnoea, and is Visiting Professor of Orthodontics at the BPP University.