Sleep disorder treatments could help heart patients

Cardiologists may be prescribing sleep disorder treatments to their patients in the next five years, according to reports from the 14th World Congress of Cardiology, held recently in Sydney.

Sleep disorder therapies like ResMed's could be among those that benefit from this new understanding of cardiovascular disease. Fisher and Paykel and Respironics are also providers of the sleep disorder technology known as continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP).

Evidence that that daily management of CPAP therapy reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease was presented by world leaders in this area of cardiology research, including the inventor of CPAP himself, Sydney University's Dr Collin Sullivan.

Also at the conference, Swedish scientist Dr Jan Hedner presented molecular evidence that there is a causative relationship between snoring and cardiovascular disease.

Dr Hedner, who is currently based at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, told the audience of 200 cardiologists that use of the CPAP devices by patients increased the integrity of blood vessels and reduced blood pressure, increasing a person's well-being in the long term.

ResMed studies not presented at the conference indicated that 70 per cent of stroke victims also suffered from obstructive sleep apnoea.

Deutsche Bank analyst Kiara Bechta-Metti said cardiologists would not be prescribing CPAP to patients in the near future.

She said convincing cardiologists to recommend respiratory machines to their patients was not easy.

"Most cardiologists are not aware that sleep apnoea could be a causative agent in heart disease, and do not send their patients for sleep studies," she said.

"No-one is currently using CPAP as a treatment for cardiovascular disease. For now it is an adjunct therapy for sleep disorders and high blood pressure. It is a huge opportunity but we see it as being at least five years out."