Bothersome for oneself and for those around them, snoring can lastingly affect sleep and hide more or less serious pathologies. According to a new study presented this Monday, September 5 at the congress of the European Respiratory Society in Barcelona, people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at increased risk of cancer.
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder, causing complete or partial obstruction of the airways during sleep. Approximately 30% of French people over 65 suffer from it. “In a very concrete way, for at least 10 seconds, the patient no longer breathes at all, there is no air entering his body”told us in a previous article Dr. Yves-Victor Kamami, ENT doctor.
“It is already known that patients with obstructive sleep apnea have an increased risk of cancer, but it is not clear whether this is due to the apnea itself or to related risk factors for cancer, such as obesity, cardiometabolic diseases and lifestyle factors”acknowledged Dr. Andreas Palm, a researcher at Uppsala University and lead author of the study in a communicated. “Our findings prove that the oxygen deprivation due to obstructive sleep apnea is independently associated with cancer.”
Consider sleep apnea as a risk factor
To achieve these results, the researchers followed nearly 4,200 patients with sleep apnea. Of these, half (2,093) had been diagnosed with cancer in the past five years. They measured their sleep apnea with two elements:apnea-hypopnea index (IAH) measuring the number of breathing disorders during sleep andoxygen desaturation index (ODI) measuring the number of times blood oxygen levels drop by at least 3% for 10 seconds or more.
“We found that cancer patients had slightly more severe obstructive sleep apnea, measured by an average apnea-hypopnea index of 32 versus 30, and an oxygen desaturation index of 28 versus 26.“, said the principal investigator. After extensive research, the oxygen desaturation index was higher in patients with lung cancer (38 vs 27), prostate cancer (28 vs 24) and cancer skin (32 versus 25).
“The results of this study underscore the need to consider untreated sleep apnea as a risk factor for cancer and for physicians to be aware of the possibility of cancer when treating patients with sleep apnea. sleep obstruction”, adds the researcher. Nevertheless, the researchers do not recommend an extension of cancer screening to all patients with sleep apnea,”neither justified nor recommended”, he says. Indeed, the study only highlights an association and not a causal link between sleep apnea and cancer.
Two other studies presented at the same congress have shown a association between sleep apnea and cognitive declineas well as the possible occurrence of blood clots.
I know that I snore: who to consult? From the general practitioner (trained in sleep pathologies) to the somnologist, via the pulmonologist, the ENT or even the cardiologist, everyone can give you a sleep apnea test – the only conclusive test to detect them – and treat apnea moderate to severe. On the other hand, the only one able to manage snoring without apnea with all the existing means is the ENT. It is he, then, who will be able to carry out light surgery or a little more important, depending on the case.
Source :
- Obstructive sleep apnoeainked to increased risk of cancer, a decline in mental processing powers and an increased risk of blood clots, European Lung Foundation, September 5, 2022
