The Effect of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy on Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Related Hypertension

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease, with approximately 3–7% of men and 2–5% of women worldwide suffering from symptomatic OSA. If OSA is left untreated, hypoxia, microarousals and increased chemoreceptor stimulation can lead to complications like hypertension (HT). Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most common treatment for OSA, and it works by generating airway patency, which will counteract the apnea or hypopnea. More than one billion people in the world suffer from HT, and the usual treatment is pharmacological with antihypertensive medication (AHM). The focus of this review will be to investigate whether the CPAP therapy for OSA affects HT.