Hypoxia is a syndrome of sleep apnea

• April 26, 2024

The interruption of the breathing in patients with obstructive apnea of ​​the dream may be related to the proliferation of cancer cells and with an increase in growth tumoral , according to a study by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR)

According to information from the agency EFE , the research concludes that a high rate of lack of oxygen (hypoxia ) intermittent encourages the growth of tumors , explained the medical society in a statement.

The hypoxia is a recurrent symptom in obstructive sleep apnea dream and can cause cardiovascular problems, such as hypertension . The study advanced by SEPAR was carried out in mice , to those who were injected melanoma tumor cells and they were divided into two groups.

The animals of the first group were exposed to a hypoxia intermittent that simulated the apnea of dream and those in the second received normal levels of oxygen .

At the end of the study, tumors of the mice were extirpated and weighed, and the degree of necrosis of the same was measured to determine their aggressiveness.

The increase in the size of tumor was higher in mice subjected to hypoxia intermittent, according to the researcher Ramón Farré , member of the SEPAR dream area.

In particular, the weight of tumor and the necrosis of rodents with hypoxia intermittent were almost twice as large as the tumors of the mice of the other group.

Although the research was done on animals, its conclusions may have future clinical implications if the results are also confirmed on a large scale in humans, according to the medical society.

A future line of research will be to assess whether the hypoxia intermittent also causes the initial formation of tumors and if it promotes the metastasis of the tumors of a organ to another, as well as if there is a relationship between the incidence of Cancer and the severity of the apnea.