Does Sleep Apnea Affect Blood Pressure During REM Sleep?
Sleep is a time for your body to rest and recover from the day. Your heart slows down, and your breathing relaxes. Unfortunately, not everyone experiences constant restful sleep.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that restricts the upper airway during sleep. This has an effect on the cardiovascular system and can change heart rate and blood pressure. Normally, blood pressure will fall during sleep. A reduction above 10%, the person is considered to have entered a “dipping pattern”, with those that don’t reach a 10% reduction being characterized as “non-dippers”.
In a new study, a team from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia wanted to investigate the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and these dipping patterns. In particular, they wanted to see how REM cycles affected blood pressure in patients with sleep apnea. REM sleep is a short period when the body sort of “wakes up”. Heart rate increases,