Login | January 08, 2026
Abdominal aortic aneurysms
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: January 5, 2026
I’m sure many of you participate in an annual health screening.
So a few weeks ago during mine I was surprised to hear my doc suggest that, because I was an ex-smoker (traditional tobacco and that doggone wacky variety) for a string of years during my late teens, I should get an ultrasound to check for any signs of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
“Aortic aneurysms,” I stammered.
She proceeded to calm my nerves by explaining that with my brief smoking history there was a possibility, albeit a very low possibility, for these aneurysms.
Thus, I accepted my fate, knowing that I’d have to trek to yet another clinic for a test and then endure the nervous anticipation that one gets while waiting for a medical test result.
After that annual I went home and lickety split fired up the old google machine to research this abdominal aortic aneurysm thing, wanting to learn more about the morphology of the descending aortic artery, and hoping find out why and when it’s important to take a look at it via the ultrasound procedure I’d been prescribed.
So the descending aorta happens to be the lower portion of the body’s largest artery, the aortic artery, which stretches from way up in the chest to deep down into the abdomen.
This lower half, the descending aorta, is responsible for supplying oxygen to the lower extremities as well as to the abdominal organs and the spine.
Now when certain health maladies like high blood pressure, metabolic issues and/or bad habits like smoking are in one’s health resume then this screening procedure is sometimes suggested.
And that’s because health issues/bad habits can cause the descending aorta’s walls to weaken and sometimes bulge in spots.
If one of these bulges ruptures, that’s when the situation can become life-threatening due to internal bleeding.
Okay, so in my case the 15-minute ultrasound procedure came back negative.
Now what was so ironic about this whole incident, and why it’s the topic of today’s column, is that not more than a few days after that ultrasound I came across a study examining yet another potential connection between a health malady and abdominal aortic aneurysms.
And this study is looking to correlate obstructive sleep apnea with abdominal aortic aneurysms.
The research piece, “Chronic intermittent hypoxia facilitates the development of angiotensin II-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm in male mice,” was conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri and published in the June 13, 2024 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Now the study was undertaken because individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) - a malady characterized by periods of intermittent hypoxia (IH) - appear to also have a higher prevalence of developing abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA).
Thus, the UM researchers wanted to determine if IH could serve as an independent risk factor for AAA.
Now the specifics of this research project are far too complex and cumbersome to expand upon here, but suffice to say that the researchers endeavored to examine the link between the IH and AAA using mouse models.
And what they found with the mouse study is that the loss of oxygen via IH triggers enzymes called MMPs.
Consequently, these MMP enzymes can then degrade the support structure of the aortic walls thereby weakening the descending aorta and making it more prone to bulging.
Now the insidious thing about these abdominal aortic aneurysms is the fact that individuals who have these bulges don’t actually experience any real symptoms other than maybe some belly and/or back pain until an aneurysm bursts.
Okay, with all that being said, if you happen to suffer from sleep apnea don’t get wigged out like I did when my doc suggested an ultrasound.
The study’s author has stated that chronic IH by itself is not enough to cause abdominal aortic aneurysms.
It’s when obstructive sleep apnea and additional health issues are concurrent that an individual becomes more prone to the development of degraded aortic walls.
Finally, abdominal aortic aneurysms are much more prevalent in 65- to 75-year-old males.
Thus, if you’re in that age range and happen to be a smoker or ex-smoker, that’s when a one-time ultrasound screening is typically recommended.
For 65- to 75-year-old males who have never smoked, abdominal ultrasounds are prescribed based on risk factors such as a family history of aneurysms and/or metabolic issues.
So guys, if down the road your doc suggests you get an abdominal aortic screening no need to get freaky like I did.