Heart and blood vessel disease
If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea your blood pressure and heart rate constantly fluctuate during sleep. This places your heart and blood vessels under chronic stress. It prevents them from working properly and can increase your risk of heart and blood vessel disease.
Diabetes and metabolic syndrome
Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body cannot process and store sugar from the food you eat. If you go on to develop metabolic syndrome, you are less able to process and store fat as well as sugar. Left untreated, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea can worsen both conditions.
Frequent urination at night
If you go to the toilet twice or more each night to pass urine, you have what is called frequent urination. Although there are many other possible reasons why this may happen, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea can increase the production of urine at night so your bladder fills up more quickly. This signals the need to urinate.
Eye disease
If you have untreated obstructive sleep apnoea you are more likely to develop problems with your sight. Sleep apnoea starves the eyes of oxygen and can also lead to a build up of fluid within them. This damages the nerves that allow you to see and increases your risk of many common eye diseases.
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease occurs when your kidneys become damaged and less able to function. Sleep apnoea can effect kidney function and accelerate and worsen your chronic kidney disease.
Fatty liver disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease occurs when fat builds up in your liver cells. If you are overweight or obese and have a diet that is high in fat, you are at risk of developing this condition. However, if you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea you are two and a half times more likely to develop the disease even if you are not overweight.
Depression
People with sleep apnoea are also at risk of developing depression. If your depressive symptoms are solely due to the physical effects of sleep apnoea, treating your apnoeas may resolve the problem.
Loss of libido
Loss of libido or ‘sex drive’ is a very common problem that can affect men and women at any age. If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, you may experience a lower sex drive. This is because sleep apnoea is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and exhaustion, all of which can affect your libido.
Driving
Sleep apnoea with daytime sleepiness increases your risk of road traffic accidents. Once you begin treatment for sleep apnoea, your risk of having a collision declines so you can usually drive without restrictions.
