Sleep apnea is a condition that affects nearly 40 million adults in the United States. Many people with sleep apnea use machines called CPAPs (continuous positive airway pressure) to help them breathe better at night.
But these machines can be uncomfortable and hard to use, and many people eventually stop using them.
Sleep apnea is more than just a breathing issue—it’s closely tied to high blood pressure. That’s because during sleep apnea episodes, when breathing stops for short periods, the brain has to work harder to keep breathing and blood flow steady.
This puts stress on the body and can raise blood pressure over time.
Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered why this happens. Their study explains how sleep apnea affects the brain in ways that can lead to high blood pressure.
This important finding could lead to new, more effective treatments for people with both sleep apnea and high blood pressure.
The research was led by David Kline, a professor at Mizzou’s College of Veterinary Medicine. His team at the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center studied how the brain responds when oxygen levels drop during sleep apnea.
They found that when oxygen goes down, the forebrain sends a warning to the brainstem—the part of the brain that controls heart rate and breathing.
Two brain chemicals, called oxytocin and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), play a big role in this process. These chemicals make the brainstem overly active, which causes the body’s systems to overreact. Over time, this leads to high blood pressure.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is dangerous because it increases the risk of stroke, memory problems, and other serious health issues. People with sleep apnea are already more likely to have poor sleep and problems with focus, memory, and staying awake during the day. This makes the link between sleep apnea and high blood pressure even more concerning.
Kline’s team is the first to discover the role of oxytocin and CRH in overstimulating the brain during sleep apnea. This discovery could help scientists create new medications that block these brain chemicals or stop them from causing damage. These treatments could lower blood pressure in people with sleep apnea—without relying only on machines like CPAPs.
“Our goal is to help doctors create specific drugs to target these brain chemicals or the proteins they affect,” said Kline. “This could give people with sleep apnea a better way to manage their blood pressure.”
Kline has spent the last 20 years studying how the brain controls breathing and blood pressure. He has brought in over $10 million in research funding and published more than 40 studies. His work has helped the University of Missouri become a respected center for brain and heart research.
The lead author of the study, Procopio Gama de Barcellos Filho, is a postdoctoral researcher in Kline’s lab. He said Kline is a supportive mentor who encourages his team and values everyone’s ideas. “Working with Dr. Kline has been a great experience,” he said.
This new research gives hope to people living with sleep apnea and high blood pressure. It could lead to better, easier treatments in the future—and help millions of people sleep and live healthier lives.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about how diets could help lower high blood pressure, and 3 grams of omega-3s a day keep high blood pressure at bay.
For more health information, please see recent studies that beetroot juice could help reduce blood pressure, and results showing cinnamon could help lower high blood pressure.
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