Support for the University Hospital Center of Grenoble in its research on the influence of respiratory ailments on cardiovascular risks 

COPD, a chronic inflammatory lung disease, affects 44 million people worldwide. It evolution can lead to respiratory insufficiency, then death after a cardiovascular incident or stroke.

Marked by repeated episodes of stop-and-start breathing, SAS has many repercussions on health: cardiovascular complications, diabetes, memory loss and somnolence among others. Today, 10% of the population suffers from this condition.

Does the combination of COPD and SAS increase cardiovascular risk? The researchers at the "Laboratoire d’Explorations Fonctionnelles Cardio-Respiratoires" (managed by Pr Jean-Louis Pépin) and the Heart Surgery and Vascular Services  (Pr Chavanon and Pr Magne)  of the University Hospital Center of Grenoble are attempting to answer this question through an evaluation of the influence of COPD and/or SAS on cardiovascular risk indicators.

The study’s goal? Examining the cardiovascular consequences, still poorly known, of these two pathologies, isolated or in combination.

The method? An observational and physiopathological study conducted over three years on 200 volunteer patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.

The researchers are presuming the combination of COPD and SAS might very well be linked to a more severe endothelial¹ dysfunction than that observed in patients who have only one of these pathologies. This study will make it possible to better characterize these pathologies and the cardiovascular risk with which they are associated.

¹ Concerns the innermost layer of the blood vessels.

The researchers team