Increasing temperatures are linked to a higher chance of developing obstructive sleep apnea, while at the same time according to the most likely climate change scenarios, the social burden on this disease is expected to double in most countries in the next 75 years. The above is found by a study by Flinders University in Australia, published in Nature Communications.

Sleep apnea, which disrupts breathing during sleep, affects nearly one billion people worldwide and, if not treated, increases the risk of dementia and Parkinson, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, traffic accidents and overall accidents.

This study analyzed sleep data by more than 116,000 people worldwide, collected from a sensor under the mattress to assess the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. For each participant, the sensor recorded data for about 500 nights.

The researchers then compared this sleep data with detailed 24 -hour temperature information coming from climate models. They also performed modeling of health finances using years -adapted disability adjusted life years, an indicator used by the World Health Organization and reflects the combined impact of illness, injury and premature mortality. The aim was to quantify prosperity and social burden due to the increased prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea from rising temperatures under various predicted climate scenarios.

The survey found that higher temperatures were associated with a 45% increased chance of a person sleeping in an obstructive sleep apnea over a given night. The findings were different depending on the region, with residents of European countries showing higher rates of sleep apnea compared to those who lived in Australia and the US, which researchers attribute to the different degree of use of air conditioning.

It was also found that the increase in the appearance of obstructive sleep apnea in 2023 due to global warming is linked to a loss of about 800,000 years of healthy life in the 29 countries studied. This number is similar to other medical conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease or chronic kidney disease.

Correspondingly, the estimated total financial costs of the disease was about $ 98 billion, including US $ 68 billion from the loss of well -being and US $ 30 billion in labor loss in the workplace (lack of labor or labor).

Post researcher, Professor Danny Hert, explains that the study was focused on countries and people with a high socio -economic level, probably with access to more favorable sleeping environments and air conditioning, and this “may have influenced our estimates and have been able to lead our estimates.”

Head writer and sleep specialist Bastien Lesa, from the FHMRI Sleep Health Institute of Flinders, says this is the first study of its kind to describe how global warming is expected to affect breathing and sleeping and healthy breathing. As he adds, “we were surprised by the magnitude of the correlation between the ambient temperature and the severity of obstructive sleep apnea”.

Researchers warn that sleep apnea will become more frequent and more severe due to global warming, leading to increased health and economic burdens worldwide. Without more political action to slow down global warming, it is estimated that the weight of obstructive sleep apnea can be doubled by 2100 due to the rise of temperatures.