If you suffer from sleep apnea, it may be doing more than causing you to feel sleepy during the day, it may be affecting your heart health.

OSA or obstructive sleep apnea causes a person to repeatedly stop breathing during the night, disturbing sleep. Recent studies link sleep apnea with cardiovascular disease.

Sleep apnea is associated with a 45% higher risk of hypertension. In addition, sleep deprivation is linked to weight gain and diabetes, which are risk factors for heart disease.

Ralph Downey III, PhD, of the Sleep Disorders Center at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California explains:

“It makes not only scientific sense that such a relationship exists, but common sense as well,” said Downey. “If someone were to suffocate you with a pillow several hundred times a night, you would call the police. In the case of patients with sleep apnea, the airway blocks off due to obstruction and they stop breathing for 10 seconds to a minute, which is repeated hundreds of times in a night. The body, in essence, is being assaulted by the damage done from intermittent lack of oxygen to the heart, brain and other important organ systems, and yet such an assault goes unreported. That is, patients who have these symptoms don’t always have their sleep apnea corrected. Perhaps in the light of a metaphor such as the one of being assaulted by our own sleep disorder, people would take more care of their sleep. Their hearts will thank them.”

Medical News Today

American Academy of Sleep Medicine

While most think of the risk of fracture as being greatest for post-menopausal and elderly women, the risk of a second fracture is equal for both men and women because they aren’t treated for osteoporosis.

Any fracture, even if from a slip-and-fall incident, could be indicative of osteoporosis. And once a fracture occurs, the risk of refracture increases for both men and women.

Doctors at the Bone & Mineral Research program of The Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia, state that the majority of men and women who suffer fractures fail to get proper treatment that could prevent a subsequent fracture. The key to proper treatment lies in getting clinicians to make the link between fracture and osteoporosis.

The most common form of treatment for depression are the types of anti-depressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Now a study published in the January 22, 2007 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that the taking of SSRIs is associated with a doubled risk of bone fracture.

Daily use of SSRIs was associated with an increase in the number of falls. But it appears that the falls themselves are not the only culprit in the high rate of fracture. Patients taking SSRIs also had a lower bone mass density.

Daily use of antidepressants associated with increased risk of fracture in older adults

Human growth hormone has been marketed widely as an anti-aging treatment. Although the FDA has repeatedly taken regulatory action against certain distributors, unsubstantiated claims for HGH treatment continue to be made and it continues to be sold illegaly.

Now a Stanford University report published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine says that there is no proof that human growth hormone prevents aging but there is proof it can cause some serious side effects.

Use of human growth hormone could cause joint swelling and pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and increase your risk of developing diabetes. In studies, HGH did not increase bone density or lower cholesterol and use of HGH treatment resulted in an increase of less than 5 pounds of muscle mass and a decrease in the same amount of fat - results you could achieve through regular exercise.

HGH is prescribed by doctors for only two conditions: the wasting syndrome caused by AIDS and growth hormone deficiency.

For more information:

Researchers: No Proof That Human Growth Hormone Extends Life Span

Growth Hormone Schemes and Scams