Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Sleep apnea leads to poor aerobic fitness

Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Nov, 2014 11:09 AM
    People with sleep apnea, in which breathing repeatedly starts and stops during slumber, are likely to have reduced aerobic fitness, even compared with those of similar body mass indices, new research shows.
     
    Sleep apnea patients may have an intrinsic inability to burn high amounts of oxygen during strenuous aerobic exercise than those who do not suffer from the sleep disorder, the findings showed.
     
    "Encouraging patients to exercise more is part of the story, but that is not the whole story," said lead author Jeremy Beitler, assistant clinical professor at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
     
    "We believe the sleep apnea itself causes structural changes in muscle that contributes to their difficulty exercising," Beitler added.
     
    For the small yet significant study, researchers performed sleep studies of men and women with a range of apnea symptoms.
     
    Fifteen men and women with moderate to severe apnea and nineteen with mild or no apnea were then asked to pedal a stationary bike at incrementally harder resistance levels - similar to what a person would experience climbing up a progressively steeper hill.
     
    The participants were directed to pedal to exhaustion.
     
    From the exercise test results, and previous measurements of participants' resting metabolic rates, scientists calculated each person's VO2 max - a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen the person can uptake during strenuous exercise.
     
    After adjusting for baseline differences, scientists showed that people with sleep apnea had on average a 14 percent lower VO2 max than control subjects.
     
    “This is a big discrepancy,” Beitler noted.
     
    Researchers believe that VO2 max measurements may be an early marker for those who are at higher risk of stroke and heart attack and that VO2 max measurements could motivate early interventions to treat apnea.
     
    The findings appeared in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Honey Can Destroy Harmful Fungus, Save Lives

    Honey Can Destroy Harmful Fungus, Save Lives
    Researchers from Britain have identified the effect of honey used since ancient times for the treatment of several diseases, on pathogenic fungi that can cause devastating infections in vulnerable people.

    Honey Can Destroy Harmful Fungus, Save Lives

    Protein 'switch' to turn off Alzheimer's identified

    Protein 'switch' to turn off Alzheimer's identified
    Blocking a protein that acts like switch to wake us up may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, new research has found, pointing towards a new target to prevent this...

    Protein 'switch' to turn off Alzheimer's identified

    Houses Should Be Checked For Radon Gas, Can Cause Lung Cancer

    Houses Should Be Checked For Radon Gas, Can Cause Lung Cancer
    TORONTO — It's a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can seep through cracks and crevices in houses and other enclosed spaces — and can cause lung cancer. Yet many Canadians aren't even aware of its existence or the health risk the substance can pose.

    Houses Should Be Checked For Radon Gas, Can Cause Lung Cancer

    Exercise and fasting could boost brain's functions

    Exercise and fasting could boost brain's functions
    The research on animals showed how intermittent fasting in rats and mice can enhance learning and memory and decrease the risk of degeneration of those...

    Exercise and fasting could boost brain's functions

    Permanent stress may lead to mental disorders

    Permanent stress may lead to mental disorders
    Permanent stress can activate immune cells that can cause changes in the brain, leading to mental disorders such as schizophrenia, shows a study....

    Permanent stress may lead to mental disorders

    How flawed gene can cause deafness

    How flawed gene can cause deafness
    Researchers have found how mutations in a gene called Tmie can cause deafness from birth, suggesting new avenues for therapies aimed at restoring hearing....

    How flawed gene can cause deafness

    PrevNext