Obesity metabolic and hormonal disorders associated with obstructive sleep apnea and their impact on the risk of cardiovascular events

Abstract

Objective: To analyze metabolic and hormonal disorders resulting from the association between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome that predispose to cardiovascular diseases and investigate the clinical benefits obtained from treatment approaches for both conditions.

Methods: A literature review between 1997 and 2017 was conducted in the PubMed search database.

Results: Obesity is the most important risk factor for OSA, and the progressive increase in its prevalence also affects OSA incidence. In addition, OSA may aggravate weight gain and obesity comorbidities. Both conditions lead to an increase in the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. The gold standard treatment for moderate to severe OSA is CPAP, but significant reduction in major cardiovascular events was not observed in clinical trials. Body weight reduction appears effective to improve OSA, as long as it is maintained. Lifestyle modifications and drug therapy seem to be the preferred approach to treat obesity, but in severe obesity and moderate to severe OSA, bariatric surgery is probably the most adequate treatment.

Conclusions: Weight control is essential to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality potentially linked to both obesity and OSA. CPAP seems to treat only OSA without decreasing these risks. Other treatment strategies are lifestyle modifications and drug therapy, which need further investigation as well as bariatric surgery for severe cases.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Hormones; Obesity; Obstructive sleep apnea.