Sleep position may cause apnea in stroke patients
A recent study finds that stroke patients spend the majority of their sleep time on their backs which may contribute to development of sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a common problem in which soft tissues in the back of throat repeatedly collapse during sleep causing breathing to stop for brief moments. Snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness are common symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. The condition can be effectively treated with a small machine called a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device that blows air into the throat which prevents the tissues from collapsing.
To develop their analysis, the researchers performed full sleep testing of 30 hospitalized stroke patients. Their analysis included monitoring the sleep positions. The average patient age was 67 years.
“Sleep apnea is very common after stroke and is associated with poor outcome,” Dr. Devin L. Brown and colleagues from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, write. Sleeping on the back, which is also known as “supine sleep,” is known contributor worsening sleep apnea in the general population.
The patients spent the “vast majority” of their sleep time in the supine position, the investigators found. In fact, almost two thirds of the patients spent no time asleep in any other position.
The analysis also showed that the amount of time spent sleeping supine increased with the severity of the stroke.
“Given the high (rate) of supine sleep identified, research into positional therapy for stroke patients with sleep apnea seems warranted,” Brown’s team concludes.
The results of their study were published in the journal Stroke
Recent Comments