The Nurse Practitioner Working in an Overnight Sleep Lab Is

The nurse practitioner working in an overnight sleep lab is assessing and diagnosing patients with sleep apnea. During this diagnostic procedure, the nurse notes that a patient's blood pressure is 162/97. The nurse explains this connection to the patient based on which of the following pathophysiological principles?

A) During apneic periods, the patient experiences hypoxemia that stimulates chemoreceptors to induce vasoconstriction.
B) When the patient starts to snore, his epiglottis is closed over the trachea.
C) When the airway is obstructed, specialized cells located in the back of the throat send signals to the kidney to increase pulse rate.
D) When airways are obstructed, the body will retain extracellular fluid so that this fluid can be shifted to intravascular space to increase volume.