New research has made a startling discovery connecting cancer and sleep apnea.
First: What is sleep apnea? Sleep apnea occurs when a sleeping person’s airway becomes narrowed, blocked or floppy causing air pauses or air decline which deprives the body of oxygen. It has already been linked to cardiovascular disease and obesity as well.
Researchers in Spain followed thousands of individuals with varying degrees of sleep apnea at sleep clinics. The people with the most severe forms of sleep apnea had a 65 percent greater risk of dying from cancer than a people without apnea. In a similar study done in Wisconsin, 1,500 government workers were monitored at night for several years, and those with a moderate form of apnea died of cancer at two times the rate of people without sleep issues. Patients with the worst breathing abnormalities at night had five times the rate of dying from cancer.
Other studies researching cancer and sleep apnea tested the theory that it was the lack of oxygen to the brain that caused the higher risk of cancer. Scientists speculated that the body develops more blood vessels to make up for the lack of oxygen, enabling the cancer tissue to grow and spread much quicker.
While the findings are sound, further research will need to be done in order to solidify the theory.
Comments are closed.