People who snore have a higher risk of cancer

It's not because people who snore are more likely to be obese, smoke or have other health conditions, but the Swedish experts believe it has something to do with nighttime hypoxia caused by heart rhythms. interrupted breathing, also known as sleep apnea.

In addition, several other separate studies have linked sleep apnea with impaired brain function and an increased risk of blood clots. Notably, the UK and the US have millions of people suffering from this condition.

 Patients with sleep apnea have a higher risk of cancer. (Photo courtesy: Shutterstock).

Usually, the hallmark sign of sleep apnea is snoring, but this annoying noise isn't always caused by it.

The study was just published at a medical conference in Barcelona. This study followed nearly 4,200 patients with apnea. Half of them have also been diagnosed with cancer in the past 5 years.

The team of scientists led by Dr. Andreas Palm at Uppsala University assessed the severity of the above patients through two tests.

1. One is to measure the number of sleep disturbances and score them on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI).
2. The second is to measure the number of times the amount of oxygen in the blood drops by 3% for at least 10 seconds per hour, also known as the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) .

The results showed that cancer patients often had more sleep disruptions .

They had an average AHI score of 32, up from 30 in the group without cancer. Their ODI was also 28 compared with 26 in the cancer-free group.

Meanwhile ODI was higher in lung cancer (38 vs 27), prostate cancer (28 vs 24) and skin cancer (32 vs 25).

Dr. Palm explained studies have shown that patients with sleep apnea have a higher risk of cancer . But it's not clear to him whether this stems from sleep apnea itself or from risk factors associated with cancer, such as obesity, metabolic heart disease and lifestyle habits.

'Our findings suggest that OSA-induced hypoxia is independently associated with cancer ,' Dr Palm said. However, the study is observational and cannot prove that apnea causes cancer.

Sleep apnea affects around 1.5 million people in the UK and 22 million in the US. This phenomenon occurs when a person's palate dilates and narrows during sleep, blocking their airway. This can lead to loud snoring, loud and labored breathing.

Sleep apnea can be caused by obesity, when increased fat around the neck narrows the airways and weakens the muscles there.

Sleep apnea also causes brain damage in the elderly. Researchers at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland said that people aged 74 and older, especially men, recorded stronger declines in certain cognitive tests.

Meanwhile, another study at the University Hospital of Angers in France found that the condition may increase the risk of blood clots forming in the veins.