Many asthma sufferers also have sleep apnea

	Tweet

Many people with Asthma suffer from nighttime breathing disorders like sleep apnea, and treating the condition could help control their asthma, according to a new study.

“A lot of folks that we otherwise would have said this is a separate problem, we are now realizing there is a connection,” said Dr. William Bria, medical co-director of the University of Michigan’s asthma airways program.

His team examined the connection between sleep-related breathing disorders by giving questionnaires to patients with Asthma who were not doing well on regular medication. Of the 115 subjects included in the study so far, most had severe asthma.

Preliminary results found 49 percent of women and 33 percent of men were at risk for sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing stops for periods of time during sleep.

“This tells us that a lot more people with asthma need to have sleep studies,” Bria said. “When patients are having problems with asthma, their doctors need to look at more than whether they are taking enough puffs from their inhalers.”

Sleep apnea is typically treated with a continuous positive airway pressure device, essentially a nasal breathing mask.

Bria said the University of Michigan center was also conducting a study to see if patients with persistent asthma benefited from treatment with the device, and said early results were promising.

The study also found that 55 percent of patients said they experienced excessive daytime sleepiness, which is one of the symptoms of sleep apnea.

Bria said he believed both conditions were related to the body’s inflammatory response.

Final results from the questionnaire, presented in San Diego at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society, are expected later this year.

RELATED STORIES:
Home environment changes may relieve asthma   Enzyme May Play Unexpected Role in Asthma   Control of childhood asthma often overestimated   Vitamin E alone does not help control asthma   Breastfeeding and lung function at school age: Does maternal asthma modify the effect?   ICU stays for worst asthma drop 74 percent, review finds   Citrus Oils May Treat Asthma   Cigarette Use May Explain Asthma Epidemic in Children   Mother’s Asthma or Allergies May Increase Risk of Autism in Her Children   Rural kids have more asthma, get less medicine   Prenatal smoking tied to worse asthma in kids   Allergic to Bed Bugs? Allergists Detect, Treat Often Overlooked Bites

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]