Flinders University sleep experts say global warming has caused a drastic increase in sleep apnea cases and severity. This has led to an increase in health and economic burdens worldwide.
The study was published in Nature Communications and found that the rising temperature increases the severity of OSA (onstructive sleep apnea). In addition, under the most likely climate change scenario, it is expected to double in most countries over the next 75 years.
The lead author and sleep expert Dr. Bastien Lechat says that this is the first study of its kind that highlights how global warming is going to affect breathing during sleep. Moreover, it also impacts the economy and well-being of the world overall.
Dr Lechat said,
“This study helps us to understand how environmental factors like climate might affect health by investigating whether ambient temperatures influence the severity of OSA,”
“Overall, we were surprised by the magnitude of the association between ambient temperature and OSA severity.
“Higher temperatures were associated with a 45% increased likelihood of a sleeper experiencing OSA on a given night.
He further highlighted the importance varied by region
“Importantly, these findings varied by region, with people in European countries seeing higher rates of OSA when temperatures rise than those in Australia and the United States, perhaps due to different rates of air conditioning usage.”
The study estimated the severity of OSA by analyzing sleep data from over 116,000 people globally using an FDA-cleared under-mattress sensor
Five hundred separate nights of data were recorded for each user. Then it was matched with detailed twenty-four-hour temperature information through climate models.
“Using our modeling, we can estimate how burdensome the increase in OSA prevalence due to rising temperatures is to society in terms of well-being and economic loss,”
said Dr. Lechat.
“The increase in OSA prevalence in 2023 due to global warming was associated with a loss of approximately 800,000 healthy life years across the 29 countries studied.
“This number is similar to other medical conditions, such as bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease or chronic kidney diseases.”
