Notícia

Times Now News (Índia)

A Simple Blood Test Can Predict A Terrifying Condition That Can Kill You In Your Sleep (23 notícias)

Publicado em 04 de julho de 2024

A simple blood test could help predict your risk of obstructive sleep apnea or OSA – a life-threatening condition that can stop you from breathing. According to statistics, more than 936 million adults across the world are estimated to have mild to severe OSA. Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea in up to 94 per cent of patients.

Many with this condition wake up choking or gasping for breath, while others feel extremely fatigued during the day. Studies say, if left untreated, sufferers have a 30 per cent greater risk of heart disease and are 60 per cent more likely to have a stroke.

Scientists from the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil say the low-cost blood test measures the level of homocysteine - an amino acid, in the blood. Abnormally high levels of homocysteine - known as hyperhomocysteinemia can lead to alterations in blood vessel walls and increase a person's risk of heart disease, thrombosis, heart attacks, and strokes.

The team from the University collected and studied data from over 800 people aged 20-80 years, who, in 2007, took a polysomnography test to measure their apnea-hypopnea index, which counts the number of times breathing slows or stops during an average hour of sleep. "Up to five events per hour is considered normal. Between five and 15 is classed as mild apnea, 15 to 30 is moderate, and more than 30 is severe," first author Vanessa Cavalcante-Silva reported by The Sun.

According to the study, published in the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, more than half of the volunteers were diagnosed with no apnea, while 24.4 per cent had mild, 12.4 per cent had moderate, and 8.8 per cent had severe sleep apnea.

Scientists said the same group was also classified according to the level of homocysteine in their blood. Up to 10 µmol/l was considered normal, 10 to 15 µmol/l moderate, and more than 15 µmol/l high.

"When we cross-tabulated the data, we saw that subjects with high levels of homocysteine also had a higher AHI," Cavalcante-Silva said. "Those with more than 15 µmol/l had an AHI that was 7.43 higher on average than those with less than 10 µmol/l," she added.

This was the case even when accounting for weight, biological sex, and age, Cavalcante-Silva added. In the second stage, the researchers analyzed data from the same volunteers in 2015. As some people dropped out, the proportions changed. Almost a third (29.8 per cent) had no apnea, 31.2 per cent had mild, 19.4 per cent had moderate, and 19.6 per cent had severe.

Signs and symptoms of sleep apnea

According to doctors, apart from snoring sleep apnea has many symptoms, some of which include: