This Prevents Sleep Apnea from Killing You

Sleep apnea has been associated with severe health risks such as hypertension, heart failure, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cognitive decline.

But a new study published in the journal Sleep reals an even more terrifying effect of sleep apnea.

It accelerates aging at the cellular level. In short, it makes you age more quickly and die sooner.

Because sleep apnea is related to so many health conditions, scientists from the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil wondered whether there was some deeper connection between it and cellular aging.

At the heart of this question are telomeres, structures made of DNA sequences and proteins located at the ends of our chromosomes. Telomeres are crucial for maintaining the genetic material in our cells.

These telomeres naturally shorten as our cells divide to rejuvenate and repair tissues. When telomeres become too short, the aging cells stop dividing, leading to premature cell aging.

Some years ago, the Brazilian scientists showed that sleep apnea could speed up the shortening of telomeres, meaning that sleep apnea could make our cells age faster.

The most common treatment for sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). CPAP works by pumping air into the lungs through the nose and mouth during spontaneous breathing. The therapy ensures that the airway remains open during sleep, preventing pauses in breathing.

The Brazilian scientists’ new study’s main goal was to determine whether CPAP could influence the rate of telomere shortening in sleep apnea patients.

They selected 46 male participants aged between 50 and 60, all diagnosed with moderate or severe sleep apnea. They were divided into two groups. One group received the CPAP treatment, and the other received a fake treatment in which the air leached out before reaching their airways.

Over six months, the researchers measured the participants’ telomere lengths and checked other markers of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Their main discovery was that the CPAP treatment slowed the process of telomere shortening.

That wasn’t all they found.

Another significant observation from the study was the role inflammation plays in telomere shortening. The researchers highlighted the connection between sleep apnea and inflammation, particularly focusing on a molecule called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). TNF-alpha is known to be involved in some inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

In the placebo group, TNF-alpha influenced telomere length, whereas this association wasn’t seen in the CPAP group. This suggests that CPAP protects us against cell aging by reducing inflammation and its effect on our cells.
The only problem with CPAP is that most people stop using it or take it off in the middle of the night, making it useless.

A much better approach is to use simple throat exercises that keep your breathing passages open day and night. They take as little as three minutes, and you’ll feel the difference tonight. Try these simple throat exercises here…