Long-term sleep apnea as a pathogenic factor for cell-mediated autoimmune disease
Section snippets
Background
It is apparent from existing information in a number of medical journal articles that individuals with sleep apnea (SA) may be at increased risk for the development, continuation, or aggravation of T-cell mediated autoimmune disease (AD). The physiological process begins when SA-associated alveolar hypoventilation results in episodic hypoxia of varying degrees of severity, as well as pulmonary acidosis. Hypoxia-induced cellular injury produces cell catabolism that culminates irreversibly in the
General hypothesis
Long-term SA may lead to the development, continuation, or aggravation of cell-mediated AD in susceptible individuals.
Corollary #1
In addition to adult onset diabetes and atherosclerosis, some of the other diseases associated with long-term SA may have an autoimmune pathogenesis. Such disorders include stroke, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmia, and pulmonary hypertension [16], [20], some of which may be caused or exacerbated by the hypercoagulability found in some SA patients [21],
Acknowledgment
The author expresses his gratitude to Dr. Martin Polinsky for his helpful comments in the preparation of this manuscript.
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