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Longevity Atlas
Medical

Screening and treating sleep apnoea

Present in 20–30% of adult men and 10–15% of women, 80% of them unaware. Untreated it drives hypertension, atrial fibrillation, insulin resistance and dementia — CPAP treatment largely reverses this.

Impact 4/55/5Effort: a habit
First step today

Today: fill in the STOP-BANG questionnaire (8 questions); with 3+ points ask your GP for a sleep study.

How

Warning signs: snoring, breathing pauses (noticed by a partner), morning headache, daytime sleepiness, night-time urination, treatment-resistant hypertension, neck circumference 43 cm+. STOP-BANG questionnaire online; a sleep study (home polygraphy suffices). Treatment: CPAP, weight loss (10% ≈ –26% AHI), side sleeping, no alcohol, a mandibular splint in mild cases.

Evidence

Marin 2005 (n=1,651, 10 years): untreated severe apnoea meant 3× fatal cardiovascular events; with CPAP the risk fell to control levels. Wisconsin Sleep Cohort (n=1,522, 18 years): severe apnoea → 3× all-cause mortality. Meta-analysis: CPAP –2.5 mmHg blood pressure, –7 in resistant hypertension. RCTs (SAVE) were neutral on events — but with 3.3 hours average use; benefit appeared above 4 hours.

Goals

SleepHeart, blood sugarEnergy, fatigueBrain, memory

Sources

  1. Marin JM et al. Long-term cardiovascular outcomes in men with obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea with or without treatment with CPAP. Lancet (2005) ↗
  2. Young T et al. Sleep disordered breathing and mortality: eighteen-year follow-up of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort. Sleep (2008) ↗

Last reviewed: 6 September 2026

This site is educational and does not replace medical advice. Start any supplement or drug only after consulting a doctor or pharmacist.