AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, UCSF / 21.06.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yerem Yeghiazarians, MD Professor of Medicine Leone-Perkins Family Endowed Chair in Cardiology San Francisco Board Past-President, American Heart Association Co-Director, Adult Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Director, Peripheral Interventional Cardiology Program Director, Translational Cardiac Stem Cell Program Cardiovascular Research Institute Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research Associate Member in Experimental Therapeutics, UCSF Helen Diller Cancer Center University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Obstructive sleep apnea is very common, undiagnosed and undertreated. The AHA Scientific Statement was prepared to increase awareness amongst physicians and patients about this condition and to encourage more screening and therapy as appropriate. Obesity is certainly one of the significant risk factors for sleep apnea and we highlight this in the Scientific Statement: “The risk of OSA correlates with body mass index, and obesity remains the one major modifiable risk factor for OSA. In a population-based cohort study of 690 subjects, a 10% weight gain was associated with nearly 32% increase in the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), and even modest weight control was effective in reducing the new occurrence of sleep-disordered breathing. An even stronger correlation exists between OSA and increased waist circumference and neck size. Neck sizes predisposing to OSA are usually >17 and 16 in for men and women, respectively.” (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Pulmonary Disease, University of Michigan / 16.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Galit Levi Dunietz  MPH, PhD Assistant Professor

Tiffany Braley, MD, MS Associate Professor

University of Michigan, Medical School Department of Neurology Department of Nutritional Sciences Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5845 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Dementia is a public health crisis that affects more than 6 million Americans.  As no treatments to effectively reverse dementia are currently available, interest has shifted toward modifiable risk factors for dementia, which may offer a critical window for prevention or intervention. Recent research suggests that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common, yet undiagnosed, risk factor for cognition impairment in older adults. However, few studies have examined whether treatment of OSA with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy could protect those with OSA against developing dementia, says principal investigator, Dr. Tiffany Braley, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Neurology from the University of Michigan. To address this gap, Dr. Braley and Dr. Galit Levi Dunietz, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor and sleep epidemiologist, examined associations between PAP therapy use and 3-year incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or other forms of dementia (DNOS, “dementia not otherwise specified”). (more…)
Author Interviews, Gout, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Rheumatology / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr M Blagojevic-Bucknal Senior Lecturer in Statistics Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre Research Institute for Primary Care & Health Sciences Keele University Staffordshire UK  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Evidence suggests that elevated serum uric acid levels, the cause of gout, are also frequently identified in patients with sleep apnoea However, despite prevalent hyperuricaemia in patients with sleep apnoea, shared risk factors with gout of obesity and alcohol consumption, and research identifying the associations between gout and other co-morbidities, few studies have considered the possibility of an association between sleep apnoea and gout in short and long term. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, NYU, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 15.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ricardo S Osorio MD Center for Brain Health Department of Psychiatry Center of Excellence on Brain Aging NYU Langone Medical Center New York, NY 10016, USA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This was a study that was performed in a group of healthy normal elderly from the community that volunteered for studies on memory and aging. The main findings were that sleep apnea was very common, in almost all cases undiagnosed, and that it was associated with a longitudinal increase in amyloid burden which is considered one of the hallmark lesions of Alzheimer's disease (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, NEJM, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders / 30.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Craig Anderson, PhD Professor of Stroke Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience Medicine, The George Institute for Global Health University of Sydney MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We wished to prove whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP ) can modify the risk of cardiovascular disease. The is a lot of association data from epidemiological and clinical studies but no large scale international clinical trials assessing the effects of CPAP on the prevention of serious cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. Our study in nearly 3000 adults with prior heart attack or stroke and moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea showed that CPAP treatment did not prevent recurrent cardiovascular events or major cardiovascular risk factors. However CPAP did improve wearers' sense of wellbeing, mood and work productivity. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Pulmonary Disease, Sleep Disorders / 11.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ken Kunisaki, MD, MS Associate Professor of Medicine Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System and University of Minnesota and Roxanne Prichard, PhD Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience University of St. Thomas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: CPAP devices, or continuous positive airway pressure devices, are used to treat obstructive sleep apnea, a common condition that causes people to intermittently stop breathing during their sleep. This leads to poor sleep quality and often results in symptoms like excessive sleepiness in the daytime. In the United States, CPAP devices are classified by the Food and Drug Administration as Class II medical devices with possible risks; their sale requires a medical prescription. We were aware of online advertisements for secondhand, used CPAP machines, but we have not seen publications that have analyzed this practice. Once a week, our research team monitored online advertisements for secondhand CPAP devices on Craigslist.org in 18 U.S. cities and areas over a one-month period. During that time, we found 270 advertisements, most of which did not describe who previously had used the device or why it was being sold. Only 5 of the advertisements mentioned anything about the legal requirements of a prescription and 61 percent of the devices included a used mask without information about its age or how it was cleaned. CPAP devices create air pressure and attach to a nose or face mask that delivers that pressure to a patient’s airway, thereby keeping him or her breathing during sleep. The amount of air pressure delivered by the devices is adjusted for each patient and usually is determined by a medical exam that includes an overnight stay in a laboratory. Our study found that most of the Craigslist advertisements failed to mention the devices’ pressure settings—settings that were prescribed for the original owners. The average price for a CPAP device listed on Craigslist was $291, much less than the $600 to $2,000 cost of a new device. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, NYU, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders / 22.04.2015

Dr. Larry Chinitz MD Professor of Medicine and Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology NYU Langone Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Larry Chinitz MD Professor of Medicine and Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology NYU Langone Medical Center MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Chinitz: The treatment algorithms proposed currently for maintenance of sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation focus on use of anti-arrhythmic drugs and catheter ablation. Data available to evaluate the effect of modification of known adverse clinical factors on atrial fibrillation recurrence is scant. Obstructive sleep apnea in a known factor associated with both new onset atrial fibrillation as well as its recurrence after catheter ablation. Through a meta-analysis of available data we found that use of continuous positive airway pressure in patients with sleep apnea was associated with a 42% relative risk reduction in recurrence of atrial fibrillation. This effect was similar across patient groups irrespective of whether they were medically managed or with catheter ablation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 12.09.2014

Paul M. Macey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Residence Associate Dean for Information Technology and Innovations, Chief Innovation Officer UCLA School of Nursing and Brain Research InstituteMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul M. Macey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Residence Associate Dean for Information Technology and Innovations, Chief Innovation Officer UCLA School of Nursing and Brain Research Institute Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Macey: People with sleep apnea are less able to control the blood flowing to their brain, in particular when they grip tightly, or have their foot put in cold water. We measured changes in blood flowing through the brain using an MRI scanner while people gripped hard, had their foot placed in cold water, and breathed out hard into a tube with a very small hole in it. These activities all lead to more blood flowing to the brain in healthy people, which probably helps protect the cells from being starved of blood and oxygen. However, people with sleep apnea send less blood that the healthy participants during the gripped and cold foot activities. A further important finding is that women with sleep apnea are worse off than men. The female patients showed much weaker blood flow than the males, even accounting for normal differences between men and women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Obstructive Sleep Apnea / 30.08.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Mary J Morrell Faculty of Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute Professor of Sleep & Respiratory Physiology Imperial College, London Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Morrell: Our results showed that when older patients with obstructive sleep apnea were treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) they had significantly less daytime sleepiness than those not treated with CPAP. A comparison of the costs and benefits of treatment suggested that CPAP would meet the usual criteria for being funded by the NHS. (more…)
Blood Pressure - Hypertension, JAMA, Sleep Disorders / 16.12.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Miguel-Ángel Martínez-García Respiratory Department, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe Valencia, Spain MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study: Answer: The main findings of the study are: 1. The treatment with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) achieves a clinically and statistically significant reduction of blood pressure in patients with resistant hypertension (blood pressure that remains above goal in spite of the use of at least three antihypertensive drugs) and obstructive sleep apnea. (more…)
General Medicine / 10.10.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cristiano Fava MD, PhD University of Verona Department of Medicine Division of Internal Medicine C Hospital “Policlinico G.B. Rossi” 37134 Verona Italy University of Lund Department of Clinical Sciences Division of Endocrinology CRC, Lund University S-205 02 Malmö Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Fava: The main finding of the meta-analysis is that cPAP usage for at least 2 weeks, with respect to either placebo or usual care is associated with a significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. However the effect size of blood pressure reduction is modest. (more…)
Author Interviews, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders / 21.09.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marc L. Benton, MD, FCCP, FAASM Morristown Medical Center and Atlantic Sleep & Pulmonary Associates, 300 Madison Ave. Third Floor Madison, NJ 07940 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Benton:  When compared to a group of matched controls, 12 male golfers who had moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) demonstrated statistically significant improvement in their ability to play golf (as measured by changes in the Handicap Index, the standardized indicator of golfing performance) after undergoing CPAP treatment for their condition.  Treatment adherence among the group placed on CPAP was unusually high. (more…)