Sleep apnea can lead to lung cancer at a young age

New Delhi: It turns out that sleep apnea or simply a sleep disorder in which breathing stops and starts to recur can lead to lung cancer growth in young people.

A scientific study, carried out with animal models at the University of Barcelona, ​​stated that "the youngest are the most vulnerable to the aggressiveness of cancer".

Obstructive sleep apnea is a chronic disease that affects about 10% of the adult population worldwide. In recent years, researchers have shown interest in studying the potential relationship between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and its immediate consequences, intermittent hypoxia, l? appearance of tumors. The new study represents a scientific breakthrough in the research line of the potential effects of obstructive sleep apnea on cancer.

This new study was conducted on ages of young mice equivalent to those of adolescents and elderly mice – corresponding to people over 65 years old – and shows how lack of oxygen during sleep accelerates tumor growth. among the youngest.

The research team compared the results to a differential immune response to intermittent hypoxia in macrophages and regulatory lymphocytes associated with tumors.

According to researcher Isaac Almendros, "We need to consider the importance of research on older animals in the same way in patients with chronic respiratory diseases, such as obstructive sleep apnea." Our challenge is to identify and develop the personalized medicine to work on its complete treatment ".

The findings appeared in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.