More and more physicians and patients are recognizing the link between sleep medicine and cardiology, reports Philly.com.
Conner’s physicians, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, made the connection, but many do not. Sleep apnea afflicts as many as 60 percent of patients with heart failure – the term for a weakened heart muscle that cannot keep up with the body’s demands. Yet only 2 percent of them nationwide are treated for the nocturnal breathing problem, said Sunil Sharma, associate director of the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center.
