Climate Change Exacerbates the Severity of Sleep Apnea

Recent research indicates that rising global temperatures due to climate change are likely to increase both the prevalence and severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder affecting nearly one billion people worldwide. Sleep experts from Flinders University have warned that the societal and economic burdens of sleep apnea could significantly escalate if global warming continues unchecked.

Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study titled "Global warming may increase the burden of obstructive sleep apnea" analyzed sleep data from over 116,000 individuals worldwide. Using FDA-approved under-mattress sensors, researchers collected comprehensive sleep information, which they correlated with detailed 24-hour temperature data obtained from climate models. The results showed that higher ambient temperatures are associated with a substantial increase—about 45% in the likelihood—of experiencing apnea episodes during sleep.

Lead researcher Dr. Bastien Lechat explained that this is the first study to explore how environmental factors like outdoor temperature influence sleep-disordered breathing. The findings also reveal regional disparities; for instance, European populations are more affected by temperature rises compared to those in Australia or the U.S., possibly due to differences in air conditioning use.

Sleep apnea impairs breathing during sleep, leading to severe health issues if untreated, including increased risks of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, hypertension, cardiovascular conditions, anxiety, depression, reduced quality of life, and higher accident rates. In Australia alone, the economic costs associated with sleep disorders like OSA are estimated at $66 billion annually.

Using health economic models based on global data, researchers estimated that the societal impact of increased OSA prevalence—driven by climate change—could result in a loss of approximately 800,000 healthy life years across 29 countries and incur economic costs nearing 98 billion USD. The projected rise in OSA due to warming could double the disease burden by 2100 if urgent policy actions to mitigate climate change are not implemented.

Professor Danny Eckert highlighted that the study’s estimates might underestimate the true impact, as it primarily focused on high-income countries with better access to cooling and healthcare. The researchers emphasize the importance of developing more effective diagnosis and treatment strategies and investigating interventions to mitigate the effects of higher ambient temperatures on sleep health.

Future studies aim to explore methods to reduce temperature-related impacts on sleep and uncover the physiological mechanisms linking heat and sleep apnea severity, underscoring the critical intersection of environmental and human health health in the context of climate change.