Getting a good night’s sleep can do more than help you feel alert and rested in the morning. It can also boost your longevity, according to new research out of Spain that shows severe sleep apnea increases the risk of cancer death.
The two new studies, presented at a meeting of the European Respiratory Society in Vienna this week, adds to a growing body of evidence linking sleep loss to a variety of health problems.
In the first study, researchers tracked the connections between sleep apnea and cancer risk in more than 5,600 patients from seven sleep clinics in Spain. The results showed that people with severe sleep apnea had double the risk of dying from cancer, than those who sleep soundly through the night. The results also found the association was even higher in men and younger people.
SPECIAL: This Small Group of Doctors are Quietly Curing Cancer — Read More."We found a significant increase in the relative risk of dying from cancer in people with sleep apnea,” said lead researcher Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia from La Fe University Hospital in Valencia. “Our research has only found an association between these disorders but this does not mean that sleep apnea causes cancer.”
Similar results were also found in the second study which showed an increase in all cancer incidence in people with severe sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea can be treated using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, which generates a stream of air to keep the upper airways open during sleep.
In the first study, patients who were not using this device consistently had an increased risk of death from cancer.
Dr Francisco Campos-Rodriguez, from Valme University Hospital in Seville, who led the second apnea study, said additional research is needed to determine if the use of CPAP therapy can reduce cancer risk.
"Further studies are necessary to corroborate our results and analyze the role of CPAP treatment on this association,” he said. “We hope the findings of our studies will encourage people to get their sleep apnea diagnosed and treated early to help maintain a good quality of life."
SPECIAL: This Small Group of Doctors are Quietly Curing Cancer — Read More.