Poor air quality may worsen sleep apnea: Study

New Delhi: Higher levels of air pollution may not only harm your lungs but also worsen health for people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a multi-national study, that strengthened the connection between environmental health and sleep medicine.

While OSA is a common condition, many people do not realise they have it. People with OSA often snore loudly, their breathing starts and stops during the night, and they may wake up several times.

The study, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, revealed that, overall, for every one unit increase in PM10 -- tiny particles, 10 micrometers or smaller, released into the air by vehicle exhausts and industrial processes -- there was a modest but measurable increase in the patients' apnoea hypopnea index (AHI).

AHI is the number of apnoeas (when breathing stops) and hypopnoeas (when breathing is reduced) per hour during sleep. For example, among patients with low AHI (less than five), the average PM10 in the area where they live was relatively low (around 16 micrograms per cubic meter of air).