Recent research suggests a strong link between narcolepsy and a heightened risk of heart problems.

Strong Link Between Narcolepsy and Increased Risk of Heart Problems

People with narcolepsy were found to be 77% more likely to develop any kind of cardiovascular disease and 82% more likely to experience serious heart events compared to those without narcolepsy. This increased risk also extended to stroke (doubled risk), heart failure or heart attack (64% increase), and irregular heartbeat (58% increase). Even after accounting for medications used to manage narcolepsy, the risk remained significantly elevated, with an 89% increase in cardiovascular disease and a 95% increase in major heart events (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Cardiovascular Burden of Narcolepsy Disease (CV-BOND): a real-world evidence study

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“Through a carefully designed study that integrates propensity score matching, we have uncovered compelling evidence about the relationship between narcolepsy and cardiovascular disease,” said co-lead author Christopher Kaufmann, who has a doctorate in public mental health and is an assistant professor in the department of health outcomes and biomedical informatics at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. “Even after accounting for influential confounding factors like diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea, our findings persistently underscore the significant association between narcolepsy and cardiovascular disease,” added co-lead author Dr. Rakesh Bhattacharjee, the director of pediatric sleep medicine at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and an associate professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego.

Implications for Narcolepsy Treatment

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, narcolepsy is a central disorder of hypersomnolence primarily characterized by repeated daily episodes of an irrepressible need to sleep or lapses into drowsiness or sleep. In some cases, sleepiness manifests as sudden, irresistible sleep “attacks” that may occur in unusual situations such as eating or walking. People who have narcolepsy also may experience episodes of cataplexy, which involve the sudden loss of muscle tone with retained consciousness, along with hallucinations or sleep paralysis during the transition from wake to sleep.

The retrospective cohort studies used the 2005-2021 IBM® MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare Supplemental databases to identify people with a first diagnosis of narcolepsy and a comparison cohort of people without narcolepsy. Both study samples comprised 34,562 people with narcolepsy and 100,405 matched controls. The patients had a mean age of 40 years, and 62% were female.

The researchers controlled for the use of stimulants, oxybates, and other wake-promoting agents because these medications are commonly used to treat excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy.

“Our investigation revealed a significant finding: the connection between narcolepsy and cardiovascular disease persisted even after accounting for stimulant use,” said lead author Munaza Riaz, who has a doctorate in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy and is a postdoctoral associate in the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy within the college of pharmacy at the University of Florida. “This suggests a direct correlation between cardiovascular disease and narcolepsy. Understanding the positive relationship between narcolepsy and cardiovascular disease independent of stimulants is meaningful for health care providers, especially when determining treatment options for patients.”

Reference:

1. Cardiovascular Burden of Narcolepsy Disease (CV-BOND): a real-world evidence study – (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10566243/)

Source-Eurekalert