Sleep apnea may be linked to increased risk of silent strokes.

The Los Angeles Times (2/2, Stein) "Booster Shots" blog reports, "Having severe sleep apnea may make people more at risk for silent strokes and small brain lesions," according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference. For the study, 56 individuals who had experienced a stroke "were tested for sleep apnea and underwent magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography scans, which were reviewed by a radiologist who didn't know the results of the apnea tests." More than 90% of the "study participants who had a stroke also had sleep apnea."

        MedPage Today (2/2, Kaiser) reports that the researchers also found that participants "with higher sleep apnea scores were more likely to have silent strokes (OR 1.04, P=0.03)."

        WebMD (2/2, Laino) reports, however, that "there was no comparison group, so researchers don't know how many people of the same ages and health status who don't have sleep apnea have had silent strokes." HealthDay (2/2, Doheny) also covered the story.