Less TV, More Physical Exercise Reduces Sleep Apnea Risks

According to a new study, people who spend less time watching TV and are physically active face a diminished risk of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. This is the first research to examine sedentary lifestyles as well as physical activity with respect to the risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which an individual stops breathing and then restarts breathing again; this pattern carries on multiple times as the person sleeps. As a result of this intermittent breathing, the person’s blood oxygen concentration drops, they feel very tired, they snore, and their sleep is disrupted.

Some of the complications linked to unmanaged obstructive sleep apnea include a higher risk of hypertension, heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes and an irregular heartbeat. Estimates indicate that approximately a billion people around the world suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, with most of them in the 30 to 69 age bracket.

Tainyi Huang, an associate epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and the women’s hospital at Brigham, led the study. The team conducted an analysis of data gathered on 138,000 men and women in the United States; none of these people had initially received a clinical diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea.

These people were followed up with for 10 to 18 years, and at the end of that period, 8,733 study subjects had been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. The team then factored in other contributory factors such as body mass index, age, alcohol intake and smoking habits.

It was found that individuals who engaged in more intense physical activity such as running for approximately three hours each week had a 54% less chance of developing obstructive sleep apnea when compared to those who engaged in less strenuous physical activity such as taking walks at moderate speed for a total of two hours each week.

Additionally, the individuals who clocked about four hours while sitting and watching television every day had a 78% higher likelihood of developing obstructive sleep apnea. The data indicates that as people increase their level of physical activity, they significantly cut their chances of suffering from OSA.

It is worth noting that people who engaged in sedentary work, such as office workers, had a lower risk of developing OSA when compared to those who sat watching TV for several hours. The researchers suggest that watching TV presents a higher OSA risk because one may take snacks and consume sugary beverages, and these predispose them to putting on excess weight (a documented OSA risk factor).

One shortcoming of this study is that it was based upon self-reported data. Future studies may be needed to gather highly reliable data, such as data collected by wearable devices.

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