Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment has been found to reduce the blood pressure of women with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), according to a new study published in the European Respiratory Journal.
Researchers conducted a large multicentre, randomised controlled trial to examine the effects of CPAP on blood pressure levels and the glucose and lipid profiles of 307 women diagnosed with moderate-to-severe OSA; patients were randomised to CPAP or conservative treatment for 12 weeks.
The data suggested that CPAP therapy was associated with a modest but significant reduction in blood pressure, in particular diastolic blood pressure, when compared to patients receiving conservative treatment; contrastingly, CPAP therapy for 12 weeks did not impact the metabolic profiles of women included in the trial.
The authors point out that this is one of the first studies to assess these measures in women with OSA, and suggest the findings are significant as they are very similar to results found in male samples.
An accompanying editorial entitled ‘Effects of sleep apnoea therapy on blood pressure and metabolism: a CPAP sex gap?’, also published in the ERJ, puts the new paper in the context of existing research on similar themes.