Cut Down on Snoring to Reduce Your Blood Pressure
Treating snoring can reduce blood pressure. But what is the connection?
Severe snoring can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia.
What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in a certain part of your throat are relaxed. This causes an airway obstruction that can stop a person's breathing for several seconds.
When your breathing is stopped, oxygen level in your lungs and blood starts to decrease. Adrenaline levels, however, begin to increase. As a result, the breathing center in the brain takes this signal as a 'breathe now' command, which makes a person wake up and gasp for air before falling back to sleep.
The increase of adrenaline also makes your heart beat faster and your blood pressure starts swinging up and down.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the Most Common Cause of Secondary Hypertension
If blood pressure remains high despite taking several blood pressure medications, obstructive sleep apnea can be a possible cause.
Although sleep apnea is quite common due to the fact that the population is growing older and more obese, many patients are never diagnosed.
As primary care physician first encounter patients with the symtoms of obstructive sleep apnea, a cheap ans easily accessible tool is needed to confirm the suspect.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Symptoms
- extreme snoring
- drowning nightmares
- daytime sleepniess
- morning headaches
- mental deficits
- erectile dysfunction
- resistant hypertension
- stroke
- rhythm disturbances
Meditech apneABP for Primary Care Physicians to Diagnose Sleep Apnea 
Overnight, in-lab tests to diagnose sleep apnea have high costs. Meditech apneABP, a cost-effective sleep apnea and hypertension screening monitor can be worn at home, makes it possible to reduce costs by referring only those patients to sleep labs who really need the expensive examination.
Preserve Sleep Lab Tests Only for Those Who Really Need Them
Although Meditech apneABP is considered to be effective for most patients, home testing cannot be compared to sleep centers which typically monitor 24 channels included brain waves, eye movements or chin activity. But these costly tests should preserve only for those, who really need them.
Meditech is one of the worldwide technology leaders in the areas of ambulatory blood pressure and Holter ECG monitoring.