Published online Apr 15, 2018. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v9.i4.66
Peer-review started: March 20, 2018
First decision: April 2, 2018
Revised: April 9, 2018
Accepted: April 12, 2018
Article in press: April 12, 2018
Published online: April 15, 2018
Processing time: 56 Days and 4.6 Hours
The so-called “metabolic syndrome” (MS), constitutes a cluster of metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities, including fasting glucose, blood pressure, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and waist circumference that arise from insulin resistance. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome is characterized by recurrent episodes of partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway, involving cessation or significant decreased airflow, with intermittent hypoxemia, frequent arousals from sleep and recurrent oxyhemoglobin desaturations that interfere with normal sleep patterns generating difficulty falling asleep, unrefreshing sleep and loud snoring. The relation between these two entities is known as “Syndrome Z”, and there is no question about the impact of these risk factors on health and disease. This clinical condition presents a growing epidemic Worldwide, affecting approximately 60% of the general population with both MS and OSA due to the constant increase of body mass index in humans. This article presents evidence-based data that focuses on the direct relationship between MS and OSA.
Core tip: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), has been tightly-related to several components of metabolic syndrome (MS). However, most of the evidence documented has only evaluated individual components of the MS, or patients with a diagnosis of OSA.