5 Probable Causes of Cardiac Arrest while Sleeping | Uratex Blog

The diagnosis of cardiac diseases has been alarmingly increasing in recent years.  We all know that some cases of cardiac arrests occur during sleep, and it’s saddening how a percentage of the people who suffer this end up in that permanent sleep.  One circumstance that can cause such a tragedy is sleep apnea, the condition wherein a person stops breathing for numerous brief periods during sleep.  Sleeping relaxes the heart, but having sleep apnea changes all that by causing oxygen levels in the body to drop and carbon dioxide levels to climb, thus straining the heart.

Now let’s move and briefly discuss nocturnal panic attacks, which is something with no definitive cause. An anxiety disorder that only happens during sleep, nocturnal panic attacks can be distressing because of its unpredictability. People who suffer this serious psychological condition are facing the possibility of death if he or she has an underlying cardiac disorder. These attacks mostly occur in adults usually about 90 minutes after the onset of sleep.  Shortness of breath and alarmed pounding of the heart are just some of the symptoms which can lead to the increased heart workload that could eventually trigger the arrest.

via uratexblog.com