People with sleep apnoea are 340% more likely to die of cancer, study suggests

They are also two and a half times more likely to develop the disease

This could be because the condition means tissue is deprived of oxygen

This oxygen deprivation could encourage the growth of tumours

People with sleep apnoea are 340 per cent more likely to die of cancer, according to a new study.

Those with the condition are also two and a half times more likely to develop the disease than those without sleep apnoea.

Researchers believe this could be because sleep apnoea deprives some of the body’s tissues of oxygen which could encourage the growth of tumours.

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People with sleep apnoea are 340 per cent more likely to die of cancer, new research suggests

Researchers at the University of Sydney Nursing School found that people with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea could be 250 per cent more likely to develop cancer and that they could be more than three times more likely to die of the disease, the Huffington Post reports.

Obstructive sleep apnoea is a condition that causes interrupted breathing during sleep.

It is caused by the muscles and soft tissues in the throat collapsing and causing a total blockage of the airway for at least 10 seconds at a time.

 

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It is associated with being overweight and can cause snoring and daytime sleepiness.

The condition is thought to affect about four per cent of middle-aged men in the UK and two per cent of middle-aged women.

Obstructive sleep apnoea is also known to increase a person's risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and Type 2 diabetes.

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The sleep disorder causes tissue to be deprived of oxygen and it is thought this encourages tumour growth

Researchers at the University of Sydney followed 397 people for 20 years from 1990.

Each person was given a home sleep test to establish whether or not they had obstructive sleep apnoea and they were all tracked to see whether they developed cancer during the study.

The results supported those of a previous study, from Wisconsin, which suggested people with severe obstructive sleep apnoea were 480 per cent more likely to die of cancer than those without the condition.

Despite the strength of the findings, some experts have warned that more research is required to establish whether the increased risk of cancer in sleep apnoea patients is definitely linked to their sleep disorder.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2607654/People-sleep-apnoea-340-PER-CENT-likely-die-cancer-study-suggests.html#ixzz2zFPgEogF 
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