PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

The severity of sleep apnea may be underestimated in Black patients

The severity of sleep apnea may be underestimated in Black patients
2023-05-23
(Press-News.org) Session:  C110, Advanced Signal Analysis: New Diagnostics and Physiologic Insights for SDB (sleep-disordered breathing)
Date and Time: 2:15 p.m. ET, Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Location:  WEWCC, Room 144 A-C (Street Level)

 

ATS 2023, Washington, DC – Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) tests may underestimate the severity of OSA in Black patients, according to research published at the ATS 2023 International Conference.  

Recent research with ICU patients during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that pulse oximeters—clip-like devices that are attached to a fingertip to measure blood oxygen levels—may be less accurate in Black than in white patients. 

“While skin pigmentation seems to affect the results of oximetry, we did not know whether the same would be true during tests for OSA,” said corresponding author Ali Azarbarzin, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School. “We hypothesized that this would be the case.”

One of the most common and serious sleep conditions is obstructive sleep apnea, which is diagnosed by identifying breathing pauses that result in drops in oxygen levels. 

Examining results for 1,955 patients of varying races and ethnicities who underwent overnight home sleep studies as part of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Exam 5, Dr. Azarbarzin and colleagues compared participants’ average change in oxygen levels after each breathing pause.  Equipment used in the study included oximeters.

They found that, in comparison with whites, Blacks had a smaller decrease in oxygen saturation (blood oxygen level) for each breathing pause after accounting for other factors that may influence blood oxygen levels such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and smoking status.

Dr. Azarbarzin stated: “Our findings suggest that these measurement problems may lead to underestimation of the severity of OSA in Black individuals.  However, whether this underestimation of oxygen drops should lead to important differences in diagnosing and managing OSA in Black and other individuals with dark skin is unclear.”

 

“Nonetheless, these findings highlight the need to rigorously test the accuracy of oximeters across diverse populations and also to consider whether factors other than the oximeter’s characteristics could explain differences in oxygen patterns with breathing pauses,” he added.

###

 

VIEW ABSTRACT

You may also be interested in these additional newsworthy abstracts:

Session B30 Session B16 Session B16 (G. L. Day)  

 

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
The severity of sleep apnea may be underestimated in Black patients

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Strategic city planning can help reduce urban heat island effect

2023-05-23
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The tendency of cities to trap heat — a phenomenon called the “urban heat island,” often referred to as the UHI effect — can lead to dangerous temperatures in the summer months, but new Penn State research suggests that certain urban factors can reduce this effect. The study found that trees had a cooling effect on outdoor air temperature, mean radiant temperature and predicted mean vote index, a measurement designed to evaluate thermal comfort levels. Additionally, the researchers determined that higher building-height-to-street-width ratios — when taller ...

The aging mouse prostate: kinetics of lymphocyte infiltration

The aging mouse prostate: kinetics of lymphocyte infiltration
2023-05-23
“This dataset presents the most comprehensive profiling of the aging adult mouse prostate immune profile to date.” BUFFALO, NY- May 23, 2023 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 9, entitled, “Highly multiplexed immune profiling throughout adulthood reveals kinetics of lymphocyte infiltration in the aging mouse prostate.” Aging is a significant risk factor for disease in several tissues, including the prostate. Defining the kinetics ...

Organizations must go beyond medical views on menopause to support women’s professional aspirations - study

2023-05-23
Organisations must enable mid-life women to thrive in the workplace by taking inspiration from societies such as China and Japan to encourage positive conversations around the impact of menopause, a new study reveals. But as they support older women in pursuing their ambitions and accessing career opportunities, organisations must ensure they do not hinder career progression through overlooked promotions, undervalued work, and lost opportunities. In Western countries, the menopause is traditionally viewed as a managed medical condition that creates physiological challenges which women must overcome if they are to function as effectively in the workplace ...

Insomnia drug class may not influence death and exacerbation risks among patients with COPD

Insomnia drug class may not influence death and exacerbation risks among patients with COPD
2023-05-23
Session:  C98, Risky Business: Predicting Consequences of OSA Date and Time: 2:51 p.m. ET, Tuesday, May 23, 2023 Location:  Marriott Marquis Washington, Independence Ballroom, Salons E-H (Level M4)   ATS 2023, Washington, DC – Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients newly prescribed non-benzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonists (NBZRAs) such as zolpidem (Ambien, Intermezzo and other brands), a class of hypnotic drugs prescribed for insomnia, did not have an increased risk of exacerbations requiring hospitalizations or of death than those prescribed ...

Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals traveling the wrong way

2023-05-23
Powerful magnetic pulses applied to the scalp to stimulate the brain can bring fast relief to many severely depressed patients for whom standard treatments have failed. Yet it’s been a mystery exactly how transcranial magnetic stimulation, as the treatment is known, changes the brain to dissipate depression. Now, research led by Stanford Medicine scientists has found that the treatment works by reversing the direction of abnormal brain signals.  The findings also suggest that backward streams of neural activity between key areas of the brain could be used as a biomarker to help diagnose depression. “The leading ...

Strategic habitat restoration can generate a win-win for forests and farmers

Strategic habitat restoration can generate a win-win for forests and farmers
2023-05-23
Carefully planned restoration of agricultural coffee landscapes can increase both farmers’ profit and forest cover over a 40-year period, according to a study publishing May 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Dr. Sofía López-Cubillos at the University of Queensland in Australia, and colleagues. Restoring patches of natural vegetation in agricultural land presents a trade-off for farmers: while the lost cropland can reduce profitability, increases in ecosystem services like pollination can improve crop yield. To investigate how conservation priorities can be balanced with economic needs, researchers developed a novel planning framework to model the ...

Oxygen restriction helps fast-aging mice live longer

2023-05-23
For the first time, researchers have shown that reduced oxygen intake, or “oxygen restriction”, is associated with longer lifespan in lab mice, highlighting its anti-aging potential. Robert Rogers of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and colleagues present these findings in a study publishing May 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Biology. Research efforts to extend healthy lifespan have identified a number of chemical compounds and other interventions that show promising effects in mammalian lab animals— ...

How the February 2023 Türkiye earthquakes ruptured and produced damaging shaking

2023-05-23
Three studies now published in the open-access journal The Seismic Record offer an initial look at the February 6, 2023 earthquakes in south-central Türkiye and northwestern Syria, including how, where, and how fast the earthquakes ruptured and how they combined as a “devastating doublet” to produce damaging ground shaking. The two earthquakes, a magnitude 7.8 followed approximately nine hours later by a magnitude 7.6, took place at the tectonically active and complex junction between the Anatolian, Arabian, and ...

Rural patients with diabetes experience worse health outcomes than urban patients

Rural patients with diabetes experience worse health outcomes than urban patients
2023-05-23
Rural Patients With Diabetes Experience Worse Health Outcomes Than Urban Patients Mayo Clinic researchers conducted a study within their health care system to identify factors associated with quality of care among rural and urban patients with diabetes. The study evaluated patient attainment of a five-component diabetic care metric, known as the D5 metric. This metric includes no tobacco use, hemoglobin A1C <8%, blood pressure <140/90, statin use, and aspirin use. Researchers considered age, sex, race, Adjusted Clinical Group score (a series of mutually exclusive, health status categories defined by morbidity, age, and sex), insurance type, primary care clinician type, ...

Focusing on satiety and satiation may aid long-term weight loss compared to calorie counting diets

2023-05-23
Focusing on Satiety and Satiation May Aid Long-Term Weight Loss Compared to Calorie Counting Diets Researchers  hypothesized that focusing on satiety (feeling free of hunger) and satiation (feeling satisfied with a meal) through the consumption of fruits and vegetables may be better targets for weight loss success. The researchers compared the impact of two diets — Diabetes Prevention Program Calorie Counting versus MyPlate — on satiation (feeling satisfied with a meal), satiety (feeling free of hunger) and on body fat composition in primary care patients. Two hundred and sixty-one overweight, adult, low-income ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Making lighter work of calculating fluid and heat flow

Normalizing blood sugar can halve heart attack risk

Lowering blood sugar cuts heart attack risk in people with prediabetes

Study links genetic variants to risk of blinding eye disease in premature infants

Non-opioid ‘pain sponge’ therapy halts cartilage degeneration and relieves chronic pain

AI can pick up cultural values by mimicking how kids learn

China’s ecological redlines offer fast track to 30 x 30 global conservation goal

Invisible indoor threats: emerging household contaminants and their growing risks to human health

Adding antibody treatment to chemo boosts outcomes for children with rare cancer

Germline pathogenic variants among women without a history of breast cancer

Tanning beds triple melanoma risk, potentially causing broad DNA damage

Unique bond identified as key to viral infection speed

Indoor tanning makes youthful skin much older on a genetic level

Mouse model sheds new light on the causes and potential solutions to human GI problems linked to muscular dystrophy

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine ahead-of-print tip sheet: December 12, 2025

Smarter tools for peering into the microscopic world

Applications open for funding to conduct research in the Kinsey Institute archives

Global measure underestimates the severity of food insecurity

Child survivors of critical illness are missing out on timely follow up care

Risk-based vs annual breast cancer screening / the WISDOM randomized clinical trial

University of Toronto launches Electric Vehicle Innovation Ontario to accelerate advanced EV technologies and build Canada’s innovation advantage

Early relapse predicts poor outcomes in aggressive blood cancer

American College of Lifestyle Medicine applauds two CMS models aligned with lifestyle medicine practice and reimbursement

Clinical trial finds cannabis use not a barrier to quitting nicotine vaping

Supplemental nutrition assistance program policies and food insecurity

Switching immune cells to “night mode” could limit damage after a heart attack, study suggests

URI-based Global RIghts Project report spotlights continued troubling trends in worldwide inhumane treatment

Neutrophils are less aggressive at night, explaining why nighttime heart attacks cause less damage than daytime events

Menopausal hormone therapy may not pose breast cancer risk for women with BRCA mutations

Mobile health tool may improve quality of life for adolescent and young adult breast cancer survivors

[Press-News.org] The severity of sleep apnea may be underestimated in Black patients