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Adult apnea patients twice likely to suffer mortality

Written by: David Castillo on April 5th, 2011

Adult apnea patients twice likely to suffer mortality | read this item

A recent longitudinal study published in the SLEEP journal shows how adults who lose too much sleep and suffer from sleep apnea are at much higher mortality risks especially due to excessive daytime fatigue. Using adjusted proportional hazards modeling, researchers found almost twice mortality likelihood for adults suffering from apnea as compared to subjects who had normal sleeping habits.

University of Pennsylvania Health System Dr. Nalaka S. Gooneratne explains that “excessive daytime sleepiness, when associated with sleep apnea, can significantly increase the risk of death in older adults,” adding that they “did not find that being sleepy in and of itself was a risk. Instead, the risk of increased mortality only seemed to occur when sleep apnea was also present.”

Gooneratne, lead author and researcher, further explains that both sleep apnea and daytime drowsiness are not uncommon, with almost 20 percent of elders suffering from at least one form of sleep apnea.

Source: EurekAlert