Sleep apnea and stroke/death risk: a 1,022-person prospective cohort

A prospective cohort study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 followed one thousand and twenty-two adults with and without obstructive sleep apnea and found that those with OSA had a hazard ratio of two point twenty-four for the composite outcome of stroke or death from any cause, after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, alcohol use, and the presence of diabetes, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and other known cardiovascular risk factors. Obstructive sleep apnea — defined as five or more complete or partial airway obstructions per hour of sleep — is present in an estimated twenty-six percent of adults aged thirty to seventy in the United States, rising to forty to fifty percent in adults over sixty-five. It is diagnosable with an overnight sleep study, treatable with continuous positive airway pressure therapy, and remains undiagnosed in the majority of affected adults who have never asked their physician about their sleep quality. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition defined by the repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep — a collapse that completely or partially stops breathing, drops blood oxygen saturation, activates the sympathetic nervous system, fragments sleep architecture, and raises blood pressure — and then resolves, usually without the person waking up, because the arousal that terminates each apneic event is too brief to register as conscious wakefulness. It can happen five times an hour. It can happen fifty times an hour. And for most of the adults who have it, it is happening tonight without th --- Paper cited: Obstructive sleep apnea as a risk factor for stroke and death Authors: Yaggi HK, Concato J, Kernan WN, Lichtman JH, Brass LM, Mohsenin V Journal: New England Journal of Medicine Year: 2005 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa043104 --- Subscribe for one peer-reviewed paper made practical, every Tuesday and Friday. Free guide: How to Read Your Biomarker Panel at 55+ - {{LEAD_MAGNET_URL}} --- EDUCATIONAL CONTENT - NOT MEDICAL ADVICE This video is for general educational and informational purposes only. It summarizes peer-reviewed research. It does NOT constitute: - Medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment - Recommendations to start, stop, or change any medication - Dosing instructions for supplements or interventions - A substitute for consultation with a licensed physician Before applying anything discussed: - Talk to your physician, especially if you take prescription medications (statins, metformin, blood thinners, antihypertensives, GLP-1 agonists, etc.) - Discuss interactions, contraindications, and your individual risk profile - Get baseline biomarkers before changing your regimen if relevant Specific cautions: - Intermittent fasting: not appropriate for people with diabetes (especially Type 1), history of eating disorders, pregnancy, or underweight status without medical supervision. - Strength/Zone-2 training: medical clearance recommended for cardiovascular or joint conditions before initiating new training loads. - Supplements: third-party tested products preferred; verify drug interactions. AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE (FTC compliant): Some links in the description may be affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We only feature products and tools relevant to the research discussed. AI-ASSISTED PRODUCTION: Voice narration is generated via Edge TTS (Microsoft Neural Voice). Research, scriptwriting, and review are conducted by a human editor before publication. Reviewed: 2026-09-29