A new meta-analysis suggests untreated sleep apnea may be a significant factor in the effectiveness of certain medications to treat high blood pressure.

Our study indicated that the patients with resistant hypertension and the very highest blood pressure experienced the greatest reduction in blood pressure after using CPAP therapy,” said Ulysses Magalang, MD, the study’s principal investigator and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “This response suggests that untreated sleep apnea may be why these people haven’t seen improvement in their blood pressure despite the concurrent use of three or four medications.”

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