Day Two of SLEEP 2008 Begins with a Focus on Heart Health

The second day of SLEEP 2008 begins with three symposia, one of which focuses on the impact that sleep-disordered breathing has on heart health. The symposium is entitled, “Sleep Disordered Breathing as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor: An Epidemiological Perspective from the Sleep Heart Health Study.”

The ongoing Sleep Heart Health Study, which is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, has contributed significantly to the scientific data showing that sleep-disordered breathing may increase the risk for high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease and stroke.

According to the NHBI, the study has been renewed several times since it began in 1994, allowing for the collection of more data and follow up. The estimated study completion date is August 2008.

The chair of the symposium is Dr. Stuart Quan of the University of Arizona, one of the principal investigators working on the multi-site study. Dr. Quan is a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the editor of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

He will be joined by four other experts who will make presentations about the relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia and mortality.