Cluster headaches and Apnea

You may not know it, but individuals who have been diagnosed with cluster headaches are at risk of developing sleep apnea according to recent studies.   Researchers have found conclusively that there is a strong connection between the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea and cluster headaches.  In many people, simply treating the obstructive sleep apnea will also treat the cluster headaches, providing relief from both.   

Study Details 

The study that found the connection between headaches and sleep apnea was conducted by Dr. Chervin and some of his associates. The study was supported by the Sleep Disorder Center at the University of Michigan.

This was an observational study that involved 25 patients who suffer from active or inactive cluster headaches and no diagnosis of sleep apnea had been made before the study began. 

The study found that more than 80% of the participants had five episodes of apnea or hypopnea during each hour of sleep!  44% of the participants would go on to experience more than 10 episodes in the same period.  The patients were found to have severe oxygen desaturation. 

Decreased CO2 Reaction 

The scientists believe that it could be the reduced responsiveness to CO2 that cause the cluster headaches to come on since sleep apnea actually results in low oxygen saturation.  The bottom line is that your body doesn’t get enough oxygen to perform its basic functions. 

The lower CO2 saturations associated with those who suffer from cluster headaches leaves one with the impression that there is a definite correlation between headaches and sleep apnea. 

Speculation and the Future 

Right now there is only the hypothesis that there is a connection between headaches and apnea.  What is known is that sleep apnea and sleep disorders have the possibility to influence the entire mechanism that controls the sensation of headaches. 

What is needed is more research.  It has not been proved definitively that a breathing pattern caused by sleep apnea will cause the headaches or if there is a definitive link between these two things. 

What is known is that there is a strong collection between the two.  Hopefully future studies will help to directly connect the cluster headaches with the sleep apnea.   Many researchers believe that there is more to the correlation between headaches and sleep apnea.