Statins Reduce Heart Attacks, Stroke in Sleep Apnea Patients

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Statins, a drug used to lower cholesterol, has been discovered to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke for people who have sleep apnea, Medical Express reports.

According to the study conducted at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), and published via Science Translational Medicine, individuals who are suffering sleep apnea has a higher risk of heart disease, and statins can "reverse this process."

Sleep apnea, per WebMD, is a condition where an individual experience irregular breathing and decreased oxygen intake while sleeping. Medical Express adds that sleep apnea can cause "excessive daytime sleepiness and difficulty concentrating" as well as a higher risk to develop heart disease, ischemic stroke and hypertension. The publication notes that more than 18 million adults experience sleep apnea.

Sanja Jelic, MD, associate professor of medicine at CUMC, said that sleep apnea as "a powerful and independent risk factor for heart disease" has already been known for a while, but the reason behind it is not yet known. "The aim of our study was to understand the mechanisms by which sleep apnea may lead to heart disease in an effort to reduce the risk," Jelic said.

WebMD notes that the research studied 76 adults with sleep apnea and 52 without it, who have similar body fat content and blood pressure as well as experience daytime sleepiness. The researchers examined the participants' endothelial cells, which line the inside of blood vessels.

The researchers found out that there is a difference in the placement of a protein called CD59 in people with sleep apnea and those who don't. The said protein, CD59, usually stays on the endothelial cells, which is the case for those who do not have sleep apnea. However, for those who have sleep apnea, CD59 can be found inside the cells. This is because when oxygen level fluctuates during sleep, the endothelial cells pull CD59 inside that causes inflamed blood vessels, which "contributes to increased cardiovascular risk, such as heart attack, stroke or heart failure."

"This unexpected finding suggests that repeatedly interrupting oxygen flow during sleep draws CD59 away from the cell surface, where it is better positioned to do its job in protecting cells from inflammation," Jelic said per Medical Express.

"We were surprised to discover that these commonly prescribed drugs appeared to reverse the process that leads to vascular injury, and ultimately heart disease, in people with sleep apnea. This striking result provides support for the concept that statins may be considered as a primary prevention strategy for reducing heart disease risk in people with sleep apnea, pending further clinical trials," Jelic concluded.