Do patients with obstructive sleep apnoea deserve new dedicated antihypertensive strategies?

Hypertension affects 25% of the adult population and remains a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality, accounting for 13.5% of all deaths. Half of all strokes and ischaemic heart disease events are attributed to hypertension.1 2 Most patients exhibit grade I hypertension (systolic blood pressure of 140–159 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure of 90–99 mm Hg) without coexisting cardiovascular disease. Effective reduction of blood pressure in this population significantly reduces stroke and death.3 Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is now recognised as a risk factor for the development of hypertension in European and the US International Guidelines. In OSA, elevation of blood pressure is in part due to intermittent hypoxaemia leading to increased sympathetic tone and impaired baroreflex gain.4 Altered arterial vasoconstriction and vasodilatation5 owing to stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS)6 are also significant contributors. Although OSA and hypertension are tightly...
Source: Thorax - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research