Risk of heart problems for women who snore

WOMEN who keep their other halves up at night with their snoring probably feel bad enough about it already.

But to make matters worse, they could also be at greater risk of heart problems.

That’s because women snorers have a more enlarged chamber on the left side of their heart than men.

This is concerning because the left ventricle makes the heart work harder to pump when it is too large, putting people at risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Researchers analysed heart scans for 4,877 people, almost two in five of whom said they snored, while 118 had obstructive sleep apnoea. Those with this condition, which also causes snoring when the throat muscles relax and block the airway, had enlarged left ventricles too.

Researchers believe the heart problems linked to snoring could be caused by undiagnosed sleep apnoea, and that it may be more damaging for women.

Dr Adrian Curta, who led the study from Munich University, said: ‘We found that the cardiac parameters in women appear to be more easily affected by the disease and that women who snore or have OSA might be at greater risk for cardiac involvement.’

He added: ‘I would encourage people who snore to ask their partner to observe them and look for phases during sleep when they stop breathing for a short while and then gasp for air.’

Scientists do not know why snoring may damage the heart, although it could starve the left ventricle of oxygen, making the chamber larger with a thicker muscle because of the extra pumping it needs to do.

To see if women were worse affected, researchers analysed the medical records of people given cardiac MRI scans. The sample, members of the UK Biobank genetic database, were also asked if they snored or had sleep apnoea.

In both sexes, people who snored or had obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) had more enlarged left ventricles. However women had a heart which was more warped, raising fears of their risk of heart failure and early death.

Dr Curta said: ‘Our analysis showed that in both genders of the OSA and snoring groups there was an increase in left ventricular mass, meaning that the walls of the heart’s main pumping chamber are enlarged, making the heart work harder.’

The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the Radiologi- cal Society of North America, show men who snore tend to have an increase in ejection fraction in both chambers of the heart. Ejection fraction is the percentage of the heart chamber’s total volume that is pumped out with each heartbeat, and can indication a heart condition or high blood pressure.