Can You Die from Sleep Apnea? Understanding the Risks

Fast Takeaways:

• Sleep apnea is a severe medical situation that may elevate the danger of coronary heart illness, stroke, and different life-threatening problems if left untreated.^1,2,3,4
• Extreme Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is linked to the next danger of sudden cardiac demise and diminished life expectancy, however correct remedy vastly lowers these dangers.^5,6
• Steady Constructive Airway Stress (CPAP) remedy can enhance sleep, coronary heart well being, and general survival for individuals with OSA.³²
• Analysis additionally reveals that CPAP remedy might assist individuals with OSA stay longer.⁷

Understanding sleep apnea and its mortality dangers

 Sleep apnea is greater than feeling drained throughout the day or frequent loud night breathing that disrupts your family members. It’s a severe medical situation that may improve the danger of deadly well being situations if left untreated. Sleep apnea can contribute to life-threatening well being problems that will result in demise, with many analysis findings citing sleep apnea as a danger issue for demise.

What’s sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is a dysfunction through which respiration stops for brief intervals throughout sleep. This sample of interrupted respiration may cause poor sleep and daytime tiredness.¹ The situation ranges from delicate to extreme, relying on how usually respiration is disrupted. In adults, respiration might cease as few as 5 occasions per hour in delicate apnea — however in extreme instances, it could cease greater than 30 occasions each hour.² 

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the commonest sort of sleep apnea. It sometimes happens when the airways grow to be partly or absolutely blocked. Central sleep apnea is much less frequent and happens when the mind doesn’t correctly management respiration. When an individual has each situations, it’s referred to as complicated sleep apnea.¹

Sleep apnea causes pauses in respiration that may final from 10 seconds to over a minute. These pauses forestall your organs from getting oxygen. Usually, blood oxygen ranges whereas sleeping vary from 96% to 100%. For individuals with sleep apnea, these ranges can drop considerably — typically to decrease than 88%.³ If this happens, it might point out a severe well being problem, and you need to search fast medical consideration.

Your coronary heart, lungs, and mind require oxygen to operate correctly, and with out it, tissue cells start to die. This lack of oxygen is why sleep apnea is linked to severe well being situations,⁴ comparable to:

• Coronary heart illness

• Diabetes

• Weight problems

• Despair

• Stroke

• Hypertension

• Kidney illness

If left untreated, extreme OSA can improve your danger of a coronary heart assault by 2.6 occasions,⁵ and other people with extreme sleep apnea have a 123% increased danger of motorcar accidents.⁶

Lack of high quality sleep also can make day by day life tougher. It could result in mind fog, hassle concentrating, decrease productiveness at work and strained relationships with family members.

Sleep apnea can solely be recognized by a medical skilled. Folks with this situation  might expertise signs¹ comparable to:

• Extreme daytime sleepiness

• Morning complications

• Feeling irritable or moody

• Problem concentrating, struggling to really feel current throughout the day

• Loud night breathing or gasping for air whereas sleeping

• Constantly waking up throughout the evening

• Frequent nighttime journeys to the toilet

• Nighttime chest ache

• Feeling like your coronary heart is fluttering or beating quick (coronary heart palpitations).

The hyperlink between sleep apnea and mortality

In line with analysis of over 1 million individuals, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) will increase the danger of demise, even after accounting for different well being danger components.⁷

Folks with sleep apnea even have an 83% increased danger of accidents than these with out the sleep problem.⁸ These embody falls, visitors accidents, fractures and head accidents.

Folks with sleep apnea are additionally almost 7 occasions extra prone to commit suicide and roughly 11 occasions extra prone to hurt others.⁸

Whereas OSA could also be linked to diminished life expectancy, it hardly ever reveals up on a demise certificates.⁹ When researchers surveyed medical doctors, they discovered that solely 12% had put this situation as a explanation for demise.⁹

Normally, OSA is listed as a secondary or contributing trigger. In a 2025 research, researchers noticed a rising development in heart-related deaths related to OSA. Nonetheless, they famous that the situation was underrepresented on demise certificates.¹⁰

How sleep apnea can result in demise  

Untreated OSA might improve acute (sudden) and power (ongoing) danger of great well being problems – together with demise. Acute dangers might embody sudden cardiac deaths throughout the evening. This may increasingly happen when repeated intervals of oxygen deprivation put extra pressure on the center than it could deal with. Persistent dangers are extra frequent. These can embody accidents brought on by daytime sleepiness,¹¹ heart problems, hypertension and stroke.

As a result of repeated pauses in respiration can result in harmful drops in blood oxygen ranges, ⁴ people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) might expertise added pressure on the center and lungs. This may contribute to different severe well being points over time, comparable to sudden cardiac occasions. ¹²

Over time, intervals of low blood oxygen ranges injury very important organs.¹³ The center should work tougher, inflicting blood stress to rise. This may contribute to coronary heart illness, stroke and metabolic issues. People might also expertise neurological issues, together with poor focus and reminiscence decline.

Well being problems and life expectancy

Roughly 34% of middle-aged males and 17% of middle-aged girls are vulnerable to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).14 The situation can result in well being problems that impression an individual’s life expectancy. Happily, efficient and well timed administration can assist cut back these well being dangers.

Cardiovascular problems

In line with the American Coronary heart Affiliation, individuals dwelling with untreated OSA have a a lot higher probability of growing hypertension, coronary heart failure or coronary artery illness than individuals with out this situation. The extra extreme an individual’s OSA, the higher their danger of heart-related problems.¹⁴

Obstructive sleep apnea and coronary heart well being seem to affect one another. This may create a cycle through which one situation worsens the opposite. For instance, as much as 80% of individuals with uncontrolled hypertension meet the standards for OSA.¹⁵

OSA will increase the danger of sudden cardiac arrest throughout sleep. One research discovered that folks with OSA had been greater than twice as prone to die of sudden cardiac demise between midnight and 6 a.m. than these with out OSA.¹⁶

Lastly, OSA can negatively impression blood vessels.¹⁷ It causes vessels to thicken or stiffen, altering how effectively they operate. This reduces blood stream to very important organs and additional contributes to the danger of coronary heart illness.

Stroke danger

Amongst individuals who’ve skilled a stroke, over 7 in 10 had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).¹⁸ When individuals with OSA expertise drops in blood oxygen, the physique prompts stress responses that may elevate blood stress — an element linked to increased stroke danger.

Over time, repeated oxygen degree adjustments related to OSA might have an effect on mind operate and have been linked to transient ischaemic assaults (mini strokes).¹⁹ These results might improve the danger of everlasting mind injury and a full ischaemic stroke.

A number of research have proven the next fee of stroke amongst individuals with OSA in comparison with the final inhabitants. Researchers noticed a 1.5-fold elevated danger of stroke in these with OSA in comparison with these with out the dysfunction.²⁰ One other current research reported that over 90% of people that skilled a stroke had OSA. Of these people, 70% had reasonable to extreme OSA.²¹

Different severe well being problems

Aside from coronary heart situations and stroke, people dwelling with OSA might face different well being problems. For instance, 72% of individuals with Sort 2 diabetes even have OSA.²² There may be additionally a hyperlink between OSA and weight administration — an estimated 77% of individuals with OSA even have weight problems.²³

A constant lack of oxygen as a result of OSA might have an effect on very important organs, together with the mind, coronary heart and kidneys. It has additionally been linked to reminiscence impairment and psychological well being issues comparable to nervousness and despair,²⁴ not directly growing the danger of problems.

Impression on life expectancyImpact on life expectancy

With out remedy, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been linked to a shorter lifespan. In a single research, about 1 in 3 people with reasonable to extreme OSA died over a 14-year interval. By comparability, solely about 1 in 15 individuals with out OSA died.²⁵

The extra extreme the OSA, the upper the impression it could have on an individual’s lifespan. In actual fact, reasonable to extreme OSA is related to a six-fold increased general mortality fee.²⁶

Happily, life expectancy can enhance with the best remedy. Folks with OSA who use steady constructive airway stress (CPAP) — a remedy that makes use of light, regular air stress by way of a masks to maintain your airway open when you sleep — for five or extra years have diminished mortality.⁷ Additionally they have a decreased danger of growing situations like coronary heart illness and Sort 2 diabetes.²⁷

Threat components that improve mortality hazard

Whereas sleep apnea (OSA) by itself could be severe, having different well being situations on the similar time might additional improve general well being dangers. Extra physique weight, notably across the neck, can put added stress on the higher airways — making them extra prone to collapse.²⁸ Life-style habits, comparable to a poor weight loss plan, smoking and restricted bodily exercise, also can contribute to increased mortality dangers in individuals with OSA.²⁷

Age also can play a job in general well being. In a single research, researchers discovered that older adults with OSA and daytime sleepiness had greater than twice the chance of demise in comparison with youthful people with out OSA.²⁹

Remedy and improved well being outcomes

The excellent news is that with correct analysis and remedy, people with OSA can stay lengthy, wholesome lives. One method is CPAP remedy — probably the most used and efficient methodology for treating sleep apnea.³⁰

CPAP works by pushing light, pressurised air by way of a masks worn over the mouth or nostril (or each). This fixed stream of air helps hold the airway open throughout the evening, stopping the airways from collapsing.

When used as directed, some individuals with sleep apnea might expertise symptom aid after their first evening of utilizing CPAP. Plus, some individuals who constantly use their CPAP might even see a diminished fee of cardiovascular occasions and a greater high quality of life.^{31, 32}

Analysis additionally reveals that CPAP remedy might assist individuals with OSA stay longer. In a single research, CPAP use was related to a 37% decrease general mortality danger and a 55% decrease danger of heart-related demise.⁷

Involved about your sleep? Be taught extra in regards to the high quality of your sleep by taking our sleep assessment.