First lets look at the causes and patterns of sleep apnea When the muscles in the back of your throat relax too much they do not allow for normal breathing The muscles support your mouth roof soft palate the hanging tissue from the soft palate uvula the tongue and the tonsils
When these muscles are relaxed the airway narrows as you breathe lowering the oxygen level in your blood and causing a buildup of carbon dioxide Your brain is triggered by the impairment in breathing which rouses you from sleep Snorting choking or gasping is correcting the problem with a few deep breaths
Linking OSA and Cancer
Connections between sleep apnea and the growth of tumors are finding steady progress in several recent research studies The main connection is low oxygen from obstructive breathing The blockage of someones airway may promote a process called neovascularization which is the growth of new blood vessels This process may end up encouraging tumor growth
The best solution for individuals worried about both sleep apnea and cancer is prevention Making healthier lifestyle choices are commonly found to lower the risk of both diagnoses
Quit smoking
Lower alcohol use
Exercise consistently
Weight management
Physician led treatment of any other medical conditions
Improving sleep quality
Patients who have been diagnosed with OSA can also find natural remedies
Recent Studies
Andreas Palm a researcher and senior consultant at Uppsala University Sweden presented a large study on obstructive sleep apneas OSA relationship with cancer risk Palms study reviewed data from more than 62000 patients five years prior to their OSA diagnosis and linked data points to the Swedish National Cancer Registry and socio economic data from Statistics Sweden
We found that patients with cancer had slightly more severe OSA as measured by an apnea hypopnea index average of 32 versus 30 and an oxygen desaturation index ODI of 28 versus 26 he says In further analysis of subgroups ODI was higher in patients with lung cancer 38 versus 27 prostate cancer 28 versus 24 and malignant melanoma 32 versus 25
The findings in this study highlight the need to consider untreated sleep apnea as a risk factor for cancer and for doctors to be aware of the possibility of cancer when treating patients with OSA However extending screening for cancer to all OSA patients is not justified or recommended by our study results
A second study in 2020 also found a link between OSA and the development of cancer With 34000 individuals participating in an overnight sleep study different subtypes of cancer were also reviewed
The studys author Dr Tetyana Kendzerska shared that Limited by a relatively small sample size and multiple comparisons we found colorectal kidney lung and smoking related cancer subtypes to be all directionally consistently associated with an increased hazard of incident cancer adjusting for known risk factors
Although there is a lot of work ahead of researchers trends in healthcare are finding an increase in obesity which increases the chances of sleep apnea diagnoses If you have any questions or concerns regarding obstructive sleep apnea or any other sleep related questions feel free to contact The Alaska Sleep Clinic for further information and be on your way to getting the nightly rest you need
