New study links rising temperatures to sharp increase in sleep apnoea severity

In a wake-up call for untreated snorers, researchers have warned that sleep apnoea will become more common and more severe because of global warming.

Rising temperatures will increase the severity of obstructive condition and its health and economic burdens are tipped to double in most countries over the next 75 years, the Flinders University study found.

Sleep apnoea – a condition that disturbs breathing during sleep and commonly causes snoring – affects almost a billion people globally.

Lead author Bastien Lechat said higher temperatures were associated with a 45 per cent increased likelihood of a sleeper experiencing obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

“We were surprised by the magnitude of the association between ambient temperature and OSA severity,” Dr Lechat said.

“Our findings highlight that without greater policy action to slow global warming, OSA burden may double by 2100 due to rising temperatures.”

The findings varied by region, with higher rates of obstructive sleep apnoea projected in European countries than those in Australia and the US.

If untreated or severe, obstructive sleep apnoea increases the risk of dementia and Parkinson’s disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, reduced quality of life, traffic accidents and general mortality.

In Australia, the economic cost associated with poor sleep, including sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnoea, has been estimated at $66 billion a year.

The study, published in Nature Communications, analysed sleep data from over 116,000 people globally using an under-mattress sensor to estimate the severity of the condition.

Researchers matched sleep data with temperature information sourced from climate models.

Health economics modelling also showed the increasing impact on wellbeing and economic loss due to the condition’s prevalence alongside rising temperatures.

The estimated total economic cost associated with the condition was around $US98 billion, including $68 billion from wellbeing loss and $30 billion from workplace productivity loss.

The study was skewed towards high socio-economics countries and individuals, likely to have access to more favourable sleeping environments and air conditioning, senior researcher Danny Eckert said.

“This may have biased our estimates and led to an under-estimation of the true health and economic cost,” Professor Eckert said.

The research highlighted the importance of developing effective interventions to diagnose and manage obstructive sleep apnoea.

“Higher rates of diagnosis and treatment will help us to manage and reduce the adverse health and productivity issues caused by climate-related OSA,” Prof Eckert said.

“We want to design intervention studies that explore strategies to reduce the impact of ambient temperatures on sleep apnoea severity, as well as investigate the underlying physiological mechanisms that connect temperature fluctuations to OSA severity.”

Read more: How quality sleep and overcoming sleep apnoea can boost your brainpower in later life

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.