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

Sleep apnea more common than previously known in female athletes

Diagnosing sleep apnea early can improve quality of life, reduce cardiovascular risk

2025-06-12
(Press-News.org) According to a new study, presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Care of the Athletic Heart 2025 conference, sleep apnea may be more prevalent in younger female athletes than previously believed, especially among female athletes with higher levels of training. While obstructive sleep apnea has been observed in younger male athletes, the prevalence in female athletes and the association with cardiovascular risk is largely unknown.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder, impacting about 18 million Americans, and is prevalent in both men and women. It occurs when the throat muscles relax and block the airway, causing patients with OSA to repeatedly stop and start breathing when sleeping. Symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, waking during the night and gasping or choking. OSA increases the risk of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues, including arrhythmias, heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

“There is a lot of overlap in symptoms of sleep apnea and sleep deprivation, which is unsurprisingly quite common among these athletes. Some symptoms that might clue in an athletic trainer, coach or clinician that an athlete may be experiencing or at risk for sleep apnea include not feeling well-rested despite a full night of sleep, snoring very loudly, gasping or choking while sleeping,” said Austin Rim, MD, a cardiology fellow at Emory University in Atlanta and the study’s lead author. “There may be more subtle signs too, including difficulty concentrating or irritability. Accurately diagnosing sleep apnea is important, as a range of treatment options—such as CPAP, mandibular advancement devices, or even surgery—can significantly improve quality of life and, depending on disease severity, potentially reduce long-term cardiovascular risk.”

The study included 68 female collegiate athletes at two universities in the United States. Softball players made up the largest proportion of female athletes, followed by volleyball and basketball. According to the researchers, about 6 in 10 self-identified as White, a quarter as Black and the rest as Hispanic/Latino, Asian or another race/ethnicity. The average age of participants was 19 years old.

“We found in this cohort that sleep health, not even considering sleep apnea, was poor among athletes, with 36% reporting poor sleep quality and 22% reporting that they had trouble staying awake at least once in the past month while eating or engaging in social activities,” Rim said. “Ensuring good sleep hygiene among these athletes is low-hanging fruit for improving overall health in this population,”

The study recorded anthropometrics (the systematic measurements of the human body to define a person’s size and form), blood pressure and pulse wave velocity—a measurement that quantifies arterial stiffness, a precursor to hypertension. Participants also completed home sleep tests, which can detect abnormalities such as pauses in breathing during sleep. The primary outcomes were apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity.

AHI is a key metric to diagnose and assess the severity of sleep apnea by determining how many apneas and hypopneas occur per hour. An apnea is a complete pause of breathing lasting more than 10 seconds, and a hypopnea is a partial reduction in airflow lasting more than 10 seconds. OSA is diagnosed either by an AHI greater than five events per hour accompanied with associated symptoms like daytime sleepiness or unrefreshing sleep or an AHI score greater than 15 events per hour regardless of symptoms. According to Rim, between five events and 15 events per hour is “mild,” 15 to 30 is “moderate,” and anything over 30 is “severe.”

In this study participants ranged from 2.1 events to 7.7 events per hour and 25% were considered to have mild sleep apnea. No athletes had a measured AHI over 15 events per hour. Pulse wave velocity was higher in athletes with mild sleep apnea and was associated with higher AHI. The study found greater age and lean mass were independent predictors of sleep apnea, which the researchers said suggests sleep apnea may become more prevalent with higher levels of training in female athletes.

According to the researchers, while this is the largest study of sleep apnea among female athletes, it is limited in its generalizability given the small sample size. Future studies are needed to confirm the findings.

“Ideally, a future study would include multi-campus projects that track athletes over several seasons, compare men and women directly, and evaluate whether treating mild apnea reduces these early measures of cardiovascular risk. Treatment of OSA in older trials through CPAP haven’t always been shown to mitigate risk, so it would be helpful to see if treatment at a younger age could improve on this,” Rim said.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is a global leader dedicated to transforming cardiovascular care and improving heart health for all. For more than 75 years, the ACC has empowered a community of over 60,000 cardiovascular professionals across more than 140 countries with cutting-edge education and advocacy, rigorous professional credentials, and trusted clinical guidance. From its world-class JACC Journals and NCDR registries to its Accreditation Services, global network of Chapters and Sections, and CardioSmart patient initiatives, the College is committed to creating a world where science, knowledge and innovation optimize patient care and outcomes. Learn more at www.ACC.org or connect on social media at @ACCinTouch.

 

###

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study: Eating more fruits and veggies could help you sleep better

2025-06-12
From counting sheep to white noise and weighted blankets, people have tried innumerable ways to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep disruptions can have far-reaching negative consequences, impacting cardiovascular and metabolic health, memory, learning, productivity, mood regulation, interpersonal relationships and more. It turns out that an important tool for improving sleep quality may have been hiding in plain sight…in the produce aisle. A new study led by researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine and Columbia University found that eating more fruits and vegetables during the day was associated with sleeping more soundly later that same ...

Intravenous fluid study illustrates powerful, efficient approach for comparative clinical trials

2025-06-12
A clinical trial led by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa and published in the New England Journal of Medicine illustrates a powerful and efficient approach for comparing different standard treatments. The FLUID trial compared two intravenous fluids that have been commonly used for decades in hospitalized patients: normal saline and Ringer's lactate. Many millions of litres of these fluids are used every year in Canada alone, and there is no strong evidence favouring one over the other across the hospital. Unlike a traditional trial, which would randomly assign each patient ...

Lithium supply will fall short of growing electric vehicle demand through 2029

2025-06-12
In a study publishing June 12 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability, researchers conducted the most comprehensive analysis to date on lithium supply and demand in China, Europe, and the USA. Despite that domestic lithium production in some of these regions could grow as much as 10 times by 2030, it would still fall short of the soaring demand for electric vehicles (EVs) without expanding imports or technological innovation. “Lithium today is as important as gasoline in the industrial revolution,” says author Qifan Xia of East China Normal University in Shanghai. “While lithium reserves are substantial around the world, they are distributed ...

Humans have unique breathing “fingerprints” that may signal health status

2025-06-12
Your breath is one of a kind. A study published June 12 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology demonstrated that scientists can identify individuals based solely on their breathing patterns with 96.8% accuracy. These nasal respiratory “fingerprints” also offer insights into physical and mental health.  The research stemmed from the lab’s interest in olfaction, or the sense of smell. In mammals, the brain processes odor information during inhalation. This link between the brain and breathing led researchers to wonder: since every brain is unique, wouldn’t ...

Turning back time on muscle stem cells to prevent frailty from aging

2025-06-12
The population across developed countries is getting older and the associated frailty and debilitation are becoming major health problems. This gradual muscle loss is accelerated by the poor capacity to repair damage and injury, especially after falls or surgeries. Low muscle mass in the elderly — known as sarcopenia — leads to increased frailty and movement problems. Patients with sarcopenia are more likely to be hospitalized and develop other comorbidities, largely due to falls and fractures that tend to create health declines that quickly spiral out of control.   “We knew that a major contributor is the muscle stem cells that are needed to repair ...

Giving NK cells the upper hand in the battle against cancer

2025-06-12
All of us produce a growth factor – called IL-15 – which effectively protects us from cancers. It’s role is to boost the production of immune cells that can rapidly detect and kill cancer cells when they first appear. One of these cell-types is appropriately called Natural Killer Cells. The problem is that cancer cells evolve numerous strategies to suppress immune cells like NK cells, even when these cancer cell are producing the immune boosting factor IL-15, and too often the cancer cells win. ...

Targeted management of invasive species could reduce EU species extinction risk by 16%

2025-06-12
Gland, Switzerland (IUCN) –Experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have analysed how targeted management of invasive alien species (IAS) can reduce extinction risks for threatened species across the European Union (EU), in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Published in the open-access journal NeoBiota, and funded by the European Commission, a new study identifies where and how targeted action against IAS (species that have been introduced to areas outside their ...

Decline in US drug overdose deaths by region, substance, and demographics

2025-06-12
About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, U.S. drug overdose death rates entered a new wave of sustained deceleration in 2023 after 2 decades of increase. This shift may reflect changes in drug markets, treatment access, harm reduction efforts, and population-level risk. Although the decline is encouraging, persistent disparities highlight the need for targeted interventions and improved understanding of the underlying drivers.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lori Ann Post, PhD, email lori.post@northwestern.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

Long-term effectiveness associated with fecal immunochemical testing for early-age screening

2025-06-12
About The Study: This study found that initiating fecal immunochemical test screening at age 40 to 49 was associated with further reduction in colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality and incidence compared with starting screening at age 50. These results provide strong empirical support for lowering the CRC screening age, with substantial public health implications. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen, PhD, email chenlin@ntu.edu.tw. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.1433) Editor’s ...

Broad-spectrum coronavirus drug developed through AI-enabled dynamic modeling

2025-06-12
By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — About 30% of all respiratory tract infections are caused by coronaviruses, leading to widespread illnesses and, in some cases, to epidemic and even pandemic outbreaks, as we experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the development of groundbreaking technology that enables the design of prophylactic vaccines, access to those vaccines is not equal across the globe, especially in low-resource countries, and also other hesitations prevent their adoption.  In addition, coronavirus variants are emerging ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Unlocking the hidden biodiversity of Europe’s villages

Planned hydrogen refuelling stations may lead to millions of euros in yearly losses

Planned C-sections increase the risk of certain childhood cancers

Adults who have survived childhood cancer are at increased risk of severe COVID-19

Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching

New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia

Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus

Gantangqing site in southwest China yields 300,000-year-old wooden tools

Forests can’t keep up: Adaptation will lag behind climate change

Sturgeon reintroduction initiative yields promising first-year survival rate

Study: Babies’ poor vision may help organize visual brain pathways

Research reveals Arctic region was permafrost-free when global temperatures were 4.5˚ C higher than today

Novel insights into chromophobe renal cell carcinoma biology and potential therapeutic strategies

A breakthrough in motor safety: AI-powered warning system enhances capability to uncover hidden winding faults

Research teases apart competing transcription organization models

[Press-News.org] Sleep apnea more common than previously known in female athletes
Diagnosing sleep apnea early can improve quality of life, reduce cardiovascular risk