Research

Mixed

The association between OSA and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) is weaker and less consistent than for heart failure, and was only nominally significant in men under 70 in this community-based study.

For men under 70, treating OSA may offer some protection against coronary heart disease, but the benefit is modest compared to its clear benefit for preventing heart failure. If you are over 70, the link to CHD is not statistically significant in this study. Focus on treating OSA primarily for heart failure prevention and overall sleep quality, rather than solely for CHD prevention.

GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Obstructive sleep apnea was a significant predictor of incident coronary heart disease ... only in men < 70 years of age ... but not in older men or in women of any age.
Daniel J. Gottlieb et al. · Circulation · 2010

Why this rating

Same high-quality prospective cohort design.

Source

Prospective Study of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Failure

Daniel J. Gottlieb et al. · Circulation · 2010

DOI 10.1161/circulationaha.109.901801

cohort · n=4422Cited 1,533×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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