World Sleep Day: Ageing caused by Obstructive sleep apnea can be reversed

While sleep apnea promotes ageing, treatment may reverse it, according to a study from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Researchers discovered that just one year of CPAP treatment slowed the ageing process.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which can be identified by a loud snoring sound, has been related to an increased risk of hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and a variety of other chronic illnesses. Bappi Lahiri died in Mumbai just a month ago from OSA, according to his treating doctor.

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What is obstructive sleep apnoea and how does it affect you?

Airway blockage (obstructive sleep apnoea) or impaired respiratory control produce sleep apnoea, which is characterised by repeated pauses in breathing during sleep (central sleep apnoea). The risk factors and prevalence of OSA in India are similar to those in the West, according to a study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences – nicknamed AIIMS New Delhi, which contradicts the conclusions of certain previous studies that had a substantial inclusion bias.

The ‘European Respiratory Journal’ recently published a study on the ageing danger angle to OSA.

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What is the definition of age acceleration?

According to EurekaAlerts.com, age acceleration testing involves a blood test that analyses DNA and applies an algorithm to determine a person’s biological age.

The occurrence of a person’s biological age exceeding their chronological age is known as “epigenetic age acceleration,” and it has been connected to mortality and chronic diseases.

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“Age acceleration is caused by a range of environmental variables such as smoking, bad food, or pollution,” said Rene Cortese, PhD, assistant professor in the Departments of Child Health and Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health.

“Epigenetic age acceleration is widespread in Western culture, but we wanted to see how OSA affects systemic age acceleration in comparison to individuals who don’t.”

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What method was used to do the research?

The researchers looked at 16 adult nonsmokers who had been diagnosed with OSA and compared them to eight healthy controls over the course of a year to see how OSA affected epigenetic age acceleration.

The OSA group received one year of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment after a baseline blood test. The group was evaluated again after a year of CPAP treatment.

What exactly is CPAP?

“Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a type of positive airway pressure, where the airflow is introduced into the airways to maintain a continuous pressure to constantly stent the airways open, in people who are breathing spontaneously,” according to the Meri Fitzgerald Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine (USA). Air is inhaled through the nose by patients, and it travels through the nasopharynx, oropharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and finally to the alveoli.

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“In comparison to the control group, our findings revealed that OSA-induced sleep disruptions and lower oxygen levels during sleep promoted faster biological age acceleration. However, OSA patients who used CPAP showed deceleration of epigenetic age, whereas the control group’s age acceleration trends remained unchanged. Our findings suggest that biological age acceleration is at least partially reversible when OSA is effectively treated “Cortese explained.

According to Cortese, the key to CPAP’s success in slowing ageing is strict adherence to using the device for at least four hours per night. It is unclear how age acceleration will affect clinical outcomes, or how it will apply to other risk groups or children with OSA.

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World Sleep Day 2022:

World Sleep Day, which takes place each year on the Friday before the Spring Vernal Equinox, is a celebration of sleep and a call to action on major issues related to sleep, such as medicine, education, social elements, and driving. It will be observed this year on Friday, March 18, 2022, and the following year on Friday, March 17, 2023. “Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World” is the overall theme and tagline for World Sleep Day this year.

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