Sleep apnea wakes up heart disease

Pauses in breathing at night can lead to heart trouble and shorten life.

The snorts, whistles, gasps, and groans you make while sleeping may do more than rob you and your bed partner of a good night's sleep. They may steal years of your life, too. That's the message from two large studies that looked at the influence of sleep apnea, a special cause of snoring, on life span. Together with a new advisory on sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease, they sound the alarm that we should pay more attention to this breath-holding type of snoring.