By Annette Pinder
We keep hearing about it – sleep apnea. More than 28 million Americans
have it, and many are undiagnosed. It is a disorder that disrupts breathing,
causes snoring, and is linked to low oxygen levels. It can be serious, and lead
to depression, obesity, heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes,
and death.
Two studies presented in June to the American Thoracic Society indicate people
who suffer from sleep apnea also have a higher risk of developing cancer.
Researchers say low oxygen levels associated with sleep apnea can trigger the
development of tumors. The study, conducted by researchers at University of
Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health over 22 years, revealed severe
breathing problems at night increase the likelihood of dying from cancer by 4.8
times, compared to people who did not have breathing issues. They also found
people with moderate apnea had twice the risk of dying.
Similar findings by the Spanish Sleep Network were also presented at the
conference. Researchers there assessed the incidence of cancer, rather than the
mortality rate, and followed 5,200 people over seven years tracking oxygen
depletion. They found that people whose oxygen levels dipped below 90 percent,
for up to 12 percent of the total time asleep, had a 68 percent greater
likelihood of developing cancer, than people who did not have breathing
difficulties at night.
Sleep apnea is already confirmed to be related to diabetes, obesity,
high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. And, according to the National
Cancer Institute, all of these conditions also linked to cancer. “But
this is the first time researchers have found a definite link between sleep
apnea and cancer, and the findings seem to be well-documented,” says Dr. Daniel I.
Rifkin, M.D., President of Sleep Medicine Centers of Western New York. Dr.
Joseph
Golish, former chief of medicine at the Cleveland
Clinic, said, “Even if future studies reveal the cancer link is not as strong
as the proven relationship between sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease, it
is one more reason to get your apnea diagnosed and treated,” and Dr. Rifkin
agrees.
The Wisconsin study also showed
that when people who were being treated with CPAP (continuous positive airway
pressure) were removed from the analysis, the cancer association became
stronger. This is consistent with the connection between low levels of oxygen
and cancer. Meanwhile, Dr. F. Javier Nieto, one of the study’s authors and
chairman of the department of population health sciences at the University of
Wisconsin, says, “It could be something else, but it’s hard to imagine
something we didn’t control for is causing this.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Rifkin says, regardless of future findings,
“It is clear that sleep apnea can have a profound impact people’s health, and
not breathing while you’re sleeping is a serious problem. People who suspect
they have sleep apnea should contact their physician.”
To learn more about the Wisconsin and Spanish Sleep
Network studies visit www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ATS/32936#.
Western NY Resource:
Dr. Rifkin sees patients in Amherst, Buffalo, Dunkirk,
Kenmore, Lockport, West Seneca, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and Niagara
Falls. Home sleep study kits are also available. Learn more at www.sleepmedicinecenters.com or call 716-923-7326.
