Two New Studies Link Sleep Apnea and Cancer

Written by OneMedPlace Team on Jun 14, 2012

Two new studies have found that people with sleep apnea, a common disorder that causes snoring, fatigue and dangerous pauses in breathing at night, have a higher risk of cancer. The new research marks the first time that sleep apnea has been linked to cancer in humans.

About 28 million Americans have some form of sleep apnea, though many cases go undiagnosed. It causes the throat muscles to collapse during sleep, choking off the airway and causing gasping and snoring as the body fights for air. Severe sleep apnea can produce hundreds of such episodes each night, depleting the body of oxygen.

For sleep doctors, the condition is a top concern because it deprives the body of oxygen at night and often coincides with cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes.

In light of the recent studies, Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC is taking $200 off the cost of its home sleep test, which was originally $449.49, and offering free assessments for the duration of May. The special offer is intended to encourage the public to get tested for sleep apnea and raise awareness about the deadly consequences of untreated apnea. Studies estimate that 85% of sleep apnea sufferers don?t know they have the condition.

One may speculate that other diagnostic technologies developers may promote offers in light of this newfound cancer correlation, as well.

In one of the new studies, researchers in Spain followed thousands of patients at sleep clinics and found that those with the most severe forms of sleep apnea had a 65 percent greater risk of developing cancer of any kind. The second study, of about 1,500 government workers in Wisconsin, showed that those with the most breathing abnormalities at night had five times the rate of dying from cancer as people without the sleep disorder.?

Lead author Dr. F. Javier Nieto, chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, commented that five times the risk of cancer is more than just a statistical anomaly. Previous studies in animals have shown similar results, while other studies have linked cancer to possible lack of oxygen or anaerobic cell activity over long periods of time, therefore, it?s possible poor breathing fails to oxygenate the cells sufficiently.?

Both research teams only looked at cancer diagnoses and outcomes in general, without focusing on any specific type of cancer. Both studies are being presented in San Francisco this week at an international conference organized by the American Thoracic Society.

Although the study did not look for it, study author Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia, of La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Spain, speculated that treatments for sleep apnea like continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, which keeps the airways open at night, might reduce the association.?

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