Global warming could double cases of sleep apnea by the end of the century - study

Sleep-disordered breathing may become even more common. Researchers have found that rising temperatures at night due to the climate crisis can significantly worsen the course of obstructive sleep apnea. This threatens millions of people around the the world with worsening health, increasing mortality, and billions of dollars in economic losses.

This is reported by UNN with reference to Independent.

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Cases of sleep apnea may double by the end of the 21st century due to global warming

This conclusion was reached by scientists who studied the impact of nighttime heat on sleep quality. According to researchers, warming can "significantly worsen the course of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) - a disorder that already affects nearly a billion people. It is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and premature death.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, was conducted by a team from Flinders University. This is the first large-scale simulation that analyzes how climate change may affect the prevalence and severity of OSA.

This study helps us understand how environmental factors, such as climate, can affect health by exploring whether ambient temperature affects the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

As part of the work, the researchers analyzed more than 58 million sleep records of more than 116,000 people from 29 countries. The data were collected using special sensors under the mattress, which recorded breathing disturbances.

The indicators were then compared with hourly air temperature according to climate models, which made it possible to simulate the effect of warming on the severity of OSA.

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Overall, we were surprised by the significance of the relationship between ambient temperature and the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

"Higher temperatures were associated with a 45 percent increase in the likelihood that a sleeper would develop obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) during a given night," the researcher explained.

This effect was especially noticeable in Europe. According to scientists, this may be due to limited access to cooling systems compared to the US or Australia.

The DALY (disability-adjusted life years) indicator helped to assess the impact on health and the economy. According to estimates, in 2023 alone, "heat caused the loss of approximately 800,000 years of healthy life in 29 countries".

This number is similar to other diseases such as bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease or chronic kidney disease

According to researchers' estimates, economic losses from sleep deterioration amounted to about $98 billion, of which $68 billion is welfare losses and another $30 is reduced labor productivity.

Professor Danny Eckert noted that the sample may have underestimated the true extent of the problem, as it was dominated by residents of wealthy countries with better access to conditioning and medical services.

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This could have distorted our estimates and led to an underestimation of the true health and economic costs

For example, in Australia alone, the annual losses associated with sleep disorders, including OSA, were previously estimated at AUD 66 billion. In the future, the team plans to investigate the effectiveness of interventions such as behavioral changes or providing cooling of premises.

In the future, we want to develop interventional studies that will explore strategies to reduce the impact of ambient temperature on the severity of sleep apnea, as well as explore the underlying physiological mechanisms

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