Patients to take part in Warwickshire sleep apnoea research

A machine can treat the condition by pumping air into the patient through a mask

One hundred people in Coventry and Warwickshire are to be monitored while they snooze as part of research into sleep apnoea.

The research will examine patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA); a condition in which breathing stops and starts.

It aims to discover the link between abnormal heart rhythms and OSA by implanting recorders under the skin.

The British Heart Foundation has supplied nearly £265,000 for the trial.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and the University of Warwick will conduct the research over three years.

According to the Sleep Apnoea Trust, as many as 10m people in the UK have OSA.

The condition is associated with higher rates of illness and deaths linked to heart conditions, such as heart disease.

Professor Faizel Osman said the trial aimed to identify a prevalence rate of abnormal heart rhythms in patients.

"This would mean that heart monitoring could become more routine for those at risk who present with OSA with the very real potential to save lives," he said.