Snoring linked to heart failure

Doctors at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne say they have proved there is a definite link between heart failure and snoring.

Doctors at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne say they have proved there is a link between heart failure and snoring.The hospital’s sleep disorders unit has undertaken a landmark trial looking at the effects on heart function by treating sleep apnoea.Hospital unit Associate Professor Matthew Naughton says by addressing sleep apnoea, patients showed significant improvement in their heart function, as well as a lowering of stress hormone levels. Overall test subjects reported feeling so much healthier following the trials.He says the trial on 55 patients was a huge success.(Source: ABC Health News, Alfred Hospital Sleep Unit, Dec 2003)”For some time now we’ve recognised that people who snore commonly have heart disease and what we’ve shown is that if you treat the snoring, the heart disease improves,” he said.”We observed a significant improvement in the function of the heart as well as their quality of life, as well as variables which are indirect markers of cardiac function.”