When you stop breathing for at least 10 seconds while sleeping, you are experiencing sleep apnea. This syndrome is 2 to 3 times more common in men than in women and until now there was no cure.
But according to a study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada and the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital in Granada, (OSA) is not a chronic disease as previously thought.
Moreover, this research shows for the first time that OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea), which affects 38% of the general adult population, can remit after an eight-week interdisciplinary weight loss and lifestyle change intervention. duration.
This intervention includes:
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Nutrition.
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Physical exercise.
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Stop consuming alcohol and tobacco.
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Sleep hygiene.
Granada scientists cure sleep apnea
Scientists, authors of the INTERAPNEA study (), published in the prestigious JAMA Network Open medical journal, have achieved a cure for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) for the first time in the world.
In addition, research shows that this disorder can remit in 62% of cases.
A public health problem
Every year the number of people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea increases. According to expert estimates, cases have almost doubled in the last 10 years.
And the reason for this increase in cases is due to the increase in some of its risk factors. especially three:
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Obesity.
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sedentary lifestyle
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smoking.
According to a study published in the, nearly one billion people between the ages of 30 and 69 suffer from severe sleep apnea worldwide, so the variety of patients is very wide, with different causes and associated problems.
Repetitive respiratory obstructions during the period result in chronic exposure to episodes of:
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Hypoxia.
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Hypercapnia.
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Increased sympathetic activity.
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Oxidative stress.
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systemic inflammation.
“Due to these pathophysiological responses, OSA is associated with , dyslipidemia, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and increased mortality from all causes”, explain the researchers from the University of Granada.
Goodbye to CPAP, the sleeping machine
Until now, the most common way to treat sleep apnea is for the patient to use a CPAP during rest, a compressor that, through a mask fitted tightly to the nose, delivers air at a certain pressure to the patient while they sleep.
However, CPAP is a chronic daily treatment, and maintaining its use is often costly.
In addition, the Granada researchers also indicate that “the long-term benefits beyond the reduction of respiratory obstructions remain uncertain.”
In contrast, weight loss through alternative or combined behavioral interventions appears to substantially improve OSA severity and comorbidities in adults with moderate-severe OSA.
8 weeks of treatment
And what does the treatment tested in the INTERAPNEA clinical trial consist of?
Well, for eight weeks the patient undergoes an intervention aimed at losing weight and changing lifestyle habits.
The result was that there was an improvement in the severity of OSA (reduction of 23.8 apnea-hypopnea/hour), weight (loss of 6.9 kg) and fat mass (loss of 6.5 kg).
Cardiometabolic comorbidities, daily functioning and psychiatric symptoms, physical fitness, dietary behavior and, consequently, quality of life were also improved.
In fact, at six months of follow-up there was a 57% reduction in the number of apnea-hypopnea
And 62% of the patients were discharged and were able to stop using CPAP to sleep.
The findings of this pioneering study therefore have important clinical and public health relevance in the area of sleep medicine.
Because it shows that OSA is not a chronic disease, and it conveys a simple but essential message:
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An interdisciplinary treatment for weight loss and lifestyle change should be the standard treatment for OSA.
The results of the INTERAPNEA study represent a firm advance in the investigation and treatment of this increasingly prevalent sleep-disordered breathing.
They have participated in this important scientific discovery:
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UGR researchers Almudena Carneiro Barrera, Alejandro Guillén Riquelme, Gualberto Buela Casal (Sleep and Health Promotion Laboratory of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center CIMCYC);
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Francisco J. Amaro Gahete, Lucas Jurado Fasoli and Jonatan Ruiz Ruiz, from the Mixed University Institute of Sports and Health and the Department of Physical and Sports Education.
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The pulmonologists from the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital, Germán Sáez Roca and Carlos Martín Carrasco (Respiratory Sleep Disorders Unit).