A new study revealed that sleep apnea may increase the risk of potentially fatal cardiac abnormalities.
The study, published in the November 1st issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, showed a link between cardiac arrhythmias and sleep apnea.
Researchers analyzed the sleeping patterns of 2 500 people by comparing their heart rate during normal breathing to the heart rate after an episode of apnea.
They detected 62 arrhythmias in 57 people. This demonstrates that the risk of developing heart problems is 18 times higher after an episode of apnea.
The study focused on two types of heart abnormalities. The first was atrial fibrillation which results from an impaired heart beat that affects the two upper chambers of the heart. The second was ventricular tachycardia, which causes the heart, and therefore the blood, to be pumped to fast.