(Press-News.org) DARIEN, IL – Sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, suggests a research abstract that will be presented Monday, June 13, in Minneapolis, Minn., at SLEEP 2011, the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS).
Results show that women with severe sleep apnea had the highest incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes. This increased prevalence was principally driven by a higher incidence of gestational diabetes and early preterm birth.
The authors noted that sleep apnea has been associated with heart disease, metabolic syndrome and mortality in non-pregnant populations. However, few studies have examined the relationship between sleep apnea in pregnancy and adverse obstetrical outcomes.
"Our findings suggest that moderate to severe sleep-disordered breathing may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, particularly gestational diabetes and preterm birth," said principal investigator Dr. Francesca L. Facco, assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University in Chicago. "However, it is unclear if sleep-disordered breathing is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes independent of obesity."
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sleep apnea is a form of sleep-disordered breathing that involves partial reductions (hypopneas) and complete pauses (apneas) in breathing during sleep. The most common form of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when the muscles relax during sleep, causing soft tissue in the back of the throat to collapse and block the upper airway. The breathing pauses that result can produce abrupt reductions in blood oxygen saturation and reduce blood flow to the brain. Most people with OSA snore loudly and frequently, and they often experience excessive daytime sleepiness.
Facco and colleagues searched a medical records database and identified 150 women who had received a sleep evaluation by overnight polysomnography and had given birth between January 2000 and June 2009. About 87 percent of the women were overweight or obese at delivery with a body mass index of 25 or more. Seventy-two percent of the women had undergone the sleep study within three years of their delivery. For women with more than one pregnancy during the study period, the first pregnancy with outcome information was selected for analysis.
Women with an apnea-hypopnea index of five to 14.9 breathing pauses per hour of sleep were considered to have mild to moderate sleep apnea, and those with an AHI of 15 or more were classified as having severe sleep apnea. The analysis assessed the associations between sleep apnea and three adverse pregnancy outcomes: pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, and early preterm birth at 34 weeks or less.
Facco added that more research is needed to clarify how sleep apnea and obesity interact with maternal and neonatal health.
"Further studies, principally large prospective studies utilizing objective measures of sleep-disordered breathing, are needed to confirm this relationship, and to examine the interaction between sleep-disordered breathing and body mass index," said Facco. "If a relationship is confirmed, further studies would be needed to ascertain the role of treatment of sleep-disordered breathing in pregnancy."
The treatment of choice for obstructive sleep apnea is CPAP therapy, which provides a steady stream of air through a mask that is worn during sleep. This airflow keeps the airway open to prevent pauses in breathing and restore normal oxygen levels. Help for people with sleep apnea is available at more than 2,200 AASM-accredited sleep disorders centers across the U.S.
###
The SLEEP 2011 abstract supplement is available for download on the website of the journal Sleep at http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstractSupplement.aspx.
A joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, the annual SLEEP meeting brings together an international body of more than 5,000 leading clinicians and scientists in the fields of sleep medicine and sleep research. At SLEEP 2011 (www.sleepmeeting.org), more than 1,000 research abstract presentations will showcase new findings that contribute to the understanding of sleep and the effective diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.
END
Offering Multiple Sclerosis sufferers emotional support through group therapy sessions could improve their quality of life and save the NHS almost £500 per patient, a study at The University of Nottingham has discovered.
Researchers are now planning a larger multi-centre study into the issue to establish whether psychological therapy should be incorporated into the MS services currently provided by the NHS.
The study, funded by the MS Society, was led by Professor Nadina Lincoln, of the University's Institute of Work, Health and Organisations. She said: "These are very ...
Robert Storey, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Sheffield's Department of Cardiovascular Science, presented findings today that confirm one in five deaths in the year following a heart attack could be prevented if a new drug, ticagrelor, was used instead of the standard treatment, clopidogrel.
Professor Storey's latest findings were presented at the British Cardiovascular Society annual scientific conference in Manchester today (Monday 13 June 2011).
Professor Storey has led UK investigations of ticagrelor and was a member of the international committee ...
The number of heart attack deaths at Europe's sporting venues is set to significantly reduce if recommendations published today are widely adopted. In a special article published online today by the European Heart Journal (EHJ), minimum standards of cardiovascular medical expertise, available equipment, and emergency planning are defined for stadiums and mass participation events, including marathons and cycle sportives. The recommendations have been developed in response to a 2010 review¹ of cardiovascular safety at 190 major soccer arenas. This review determined that, ...
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have developed a tool to rapidly assess the risk of aggressive and violent behavior by children and adolescents hospitalized on psychiatric units. Ultimately, they hope to use the questionnaire to improve treatment and prevention of aggressive behavior in schools and in the community.
A study providing preliminary validation of the Brief Rating of the Child and Adolescent Aggression (BRACHA) tool is published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
"Using the BRACHA could ...
Approximately 12 million people in the United States are cancer survivors. On average, their medical care costs $4,000 to $5,000 more annually than the care of people who have never had cancer, according to Penn State researchers.
Those who are treated for and survive cancer are susceptible to later health complications and their total medical expenses average about $9,300 per year. People are considered cancer survivors from the moment they are diagnosed through the end of their lives. Advances in medicine enable more people to survive cancer, but there is little information ...
The idea for this research arose when the problems of the large structural components of an airplane were being analyzed. These components are made up of a large number of different elements, which are themselves assembled using a variety of techniques, such as soldering, mechanical or adhesive bonding or a combination of these. Of these techniques, mechanical bonding is the method most commonly used in components made of composite materials. For example, the wing of an Airbus 380 alone is composed of over 30,000 elements, with approximately 750,000 bolted joints. These ...
NEW YORK, NY – June 13, 2011 – Data from the landmark HORIZONS-AMI clinical trial demonstrated that the administration of the anticoagulant medication bivalirudin enhanced survival compared to the use of heparin plus a glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor in heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty after 3 years. Use of a drug-eluting stent (paclitaxel) was also shown to be more effective than a bare-metal stent, with equivalent safety. Final 3-year results of the trial were published in the June 13, 2011, issue of The Lancet.
After 3 years, treatment with bivalirudin ...
This release is available in French.
Montreal, June 13, 2011 – Exposure to secondhand smoke can create symptoms of nicotine dependence in non-smoking preteens, according to a new study from Concordia University and the University of Montreal.
Published in the Oxford journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, the study also found that tweens who repeatedly observe a parent, sibling, friend or neighbor consuming cigarettes are more likely to light up themselves as adolescents.
"Kids who see others smoking are more likely to take up the habit because they don't perceive ...
Migraine is a neurovascular disease that affects about 15% of the western population. Compounds in foods and beverages (chocolate, wine, citrus, etc) considered as migraine triggers include tyramine, phenylethylamine and possibly histamine and phenolic compounds. Avoiding those triggers may significantly reduce the frequency of migraines in some patients.
However, only a small percentage of patients in one study became headache-free simply by excluding those foods, epidemiological studies are pointing out that genetic factors may be an underlying cause. Discrepancies ...
Contact: Dr. Abigail Stevenson
Abigail.Stevenson@effem.com
44-166-441-5409
Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition
Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition advances understanding of factors influencing body weight in cats
New research by the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition marks an important step forward in the fight against cat obesity
13th June, 2011 – A collaborative team of researchers has shown that adding moisture to a cat's diet slows down the rate of weight gain. This finding, at least in part, appeared to be driven by increased activity. This research was conducted at ...
