Sleep apnea syndrome: is it a contributing factor to the sex differential in mortality?

Sleep apnea syndrome is a relatively common disease, with an overwhelmingly male predominance. The female:male ratio is about 1:15-20, depending on the specific age group. In light of findings linking sleep apnea syndrome to essential hypertension, it is hypothesized that the syndrome may contribute to the sex differential in mortality. In most of the developed countries women have longer life expectancy than men even after adjustment for various lifestyles and biologica variables Mortality from heart disease accounts for 40% of the total sex differential. The fact that the 2-5 fold sex differential for heart disease mortality is reduced to much lesser extent by multivariate adjustment than the sex differential for mortality from all causes, and that it is minimally affected by the exclusion of all persons with a history of chronic diseases, indicates that other risk factors should be sought. I propose the hypothesis that Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS), which almost exclusively affects males, contributes to the sex differential in mortality from coronary heart disease. Sleep Apnea Syndrome is a relatively common disease. It is the most preponderant finding among patients referred to diagnostic sleep laboratories, particularly among patients complaining of excessive daytime sleepiness. Its incidence among the adult male population (age greater than 21 years) was estimated to be at least 1-1.5%. It is considerably higher than that, at least 5 to 7 fold, in the 40 to 60 years age group, and in specific high-risk populations such as the morbidly obese. The female:male ratio is about 1:15-20, depending on the specific age group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)