Study shows risk is greater in those who are overweight or those who snore
Obstructive sleep apnea may have an impact on cancer risk, according to a recent study that shows a positive correlation between lengthy sleep duration and colorectal cancer incidence, especially among overweight patients or those who snore.
For the study, 76,368 women and 30,121 men were given surveys with questions related to demographics, lifestyle factors, total hours of daily sleep, snoring habits, and disease end points. During the course of the study, lead author Xuehong Zhang, MD, ScD, instructor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and his team recorded 1973 colorectal cancer cases.
When compared with men or women who were overweight or regular snorers who slept 7 hours per day, study results showed that overweight or regular snorers with 9 or more hours of sleep per day had about a 1.4 to 2 times greater risk of colorectal cancer occurrence.
According to the study authors, obstructive sleep apnea, for which excess body weight is the major predisposing factor and a common symptom is snoring, may explain the link between extended hours of sleep and colorectal cancer occurrence.
The study is published in the journal SLEEP.
Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine.