Climate Change set to intensify sleep apnea crisis: Australian study

Alsharq Tribune-M-Essam 

Rising global temperatures could double the worldwide impact of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by the end of the century, Australian sleep experts have revealed.

Researchers warn that unchecked climate change will exacerbate this sleep disorder, escalating health risks and economic costs across nations, according to a release from Flinders University in South Australia on Monday.

Projections indicate that if current climate trends continue, the overall impact of OSA on society could double in most countries within the next 75 years, according to the research, the first of its kind.

The study, published in Nature Communications, discovered that higher ambient temperatures are linked to a 45 percent greater likelihood of experiencing OSA on any given night.

"Overall, we were surprised by the magnitude of the association between ambient temperature and OSA severity," said the study's lead author, Bastien Lechat from Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute.

OSA is a widespread disorder affecting nearly one billion people globally, causing repeated breathing interruptions during sleep and raising the risk of serious health issues, including dementia, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.

In Australia, the annual economic impact of poor sleep, including OSA, is estimated at 66 billion Australian dollars (43 billion U.S. dollars), the study showed.

The study examined sleep data from more than 116,000 participants worldwide, each tracked for roughly 500 nights using an under-mattress sensor, and linked this information with 24-hour temperature data from climate models to assess how rising temperatures affect sleep apnea rates.

Researchers then applied health economics modeling to estimate the societal and economic impacts of increased OSA prevalence under different climate change scenarios.