February News 2024
february 22, 2024
New drug offers ‘two-for-one’ treatment of heart failure, sleep apnea
New Atlas
Heart failure is a global health problem commonly complicated by sleep apnea, a co-morbidity that further reduces a person’s lifespan. A promising new drug has been developed that could treat heart failure and sleep apnea by targeting the nervous activity that drives both.
february 15, 2024
Samsung Galaxy Watch cleared for sleep apnea detection
The Verge
The FDA has authorized a sleep apnea detection feature for the Samsung Galaxy Watch, clearing the way for a software update to the Samsung Health Monitor app in the third quarter of this year that will enable the feature for users in the U.S.
february 13, 2024
Sleep: an overlooked aspect of heart health
Loma Linda University Health
Sleep is one historically overlooked component of heart health that has only come under the spotlight in recent years, according to advanced heart failure cardiology experts at Loma Linda University International Heart Institute in California. For February's American Heart Month, Loma Linda University experts provide an overview of the sleep-heart connection and offer recommendations to achieve better sleep to nurture the heart.
february 8, 2024
Obstructive sleep apnea speeds up aging on a cellular level
Earth.com
Researchers in Brazil have found that obstructive sleep apnea accelerates cellular aging through the shortening of telomeres – intricate structures comprising DNA sequences and proteins located at the ends of our chromosomes. Telomeres, like silent guardians, ensure the genetic material within the cell nucleus remains undistorted. As cells undergo division for tissue and organ rejuvenation, telomeres inevitably shorten. A time comes when these telomeres shrink too much, signaling the cells to halt their division – a hallmark of aging. Obstructive sleep apnea fast-tracks this telomere shortening, thereby hastening the aging process at the cellular level.
february 6, 2024
Women less likely to be diagnosed with, offered treatment for OSA
Healio
Women often have different presentations and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea compared with men and are offered treatment less often. Studies have found women are more likely to present with fatigue, insomnia, headaches and depression compared with men, who more often present with snoring, witnessed apneas or excessive daytime sleepiness. With these symptoms, many physicians who are not sleep specialists do not immediately think sleep apnea for their women patients.
february 1, 2024
Sleep and heart health: what to know
Health Matters
One of the keys to heart health can be found beneath the covers: The American Heart Association (AHA) has added sleep to its checklist of what’s important for a healthy heart. Sleep now joins physical activity, diet, weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, and nicotine exposure in what the AHA calls Life’s Essential 8™. National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends between seven and nine hours of sleep a night for healthy adults and between nine and 13 hours for children, depending on their age. However, one of the biggest threats to sleep and heart health is a common sleep disorder, sleep apnea.