This review examines how sleep apnea influences heart rhythm over time, highlighting the biological processes that trigger arrhythmias in people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA involves repeated airway blockages during sleep, causing ongoing cycles of low oxygen, oxidative damage, and excessive sympathetic nervous system activity. These changes reshape the heart's electrical signals and structure, raising the chances of atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. Grasping these pathways is key to creating specific treatments that lower heart-related risks and deaths in OSA patients.

Sleep apnea, heart arrhythmia, low oxygen, sympathetic overdrive, atrial fibrillation, oxidative damage, autonomic imbalance.

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