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 Researchers analyzed data from 2000 through 2010 on 8,600 adults
diagnosed with sleep apnea and four times as many adults of similar
age, sex and monthly income without sleep apnea, using Taiwan’s
National Health Insurance Research Database.
They found 157 new cases of chronic kidney disease among people with
sleep apnea and 298 cases in the comparison group, according to
Yung-Tai Chen of Taipei City Hospital Heping Fuyou Branch in Taiwan
and coauthors.
After taking other health factors into account, sleep apnea
increased the risk of kidney disease by 58%. By comparison,
hypertension (a known risk factor for kidney disease) increased the
risk by 17%. Diabetes was a stronger predictor than both other
factors, more than doubling the risk of kidney disease, the research
team reported online February 1 in Respirology.
Intermittent low oxygen levels during the night and fragmented sleep
patterns may activate higher blood pressure, which would damage the
kidneys and could make individuals more susceptible to chronic
kidney disease, said Tetyana Kendzerska of the University of Toronto
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, who was not part of the
study in Taiwan.
But, “the findings from this study are limited by lack of
information on sleep apnea and chronic kidney disease severity given
that these conditions were defined through the health administrative
data,” Kendzerska said.
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Factors like obesity and smoking status are also important for
kidney risk but were not included in the assessment, she told
Reuters Health by email.
“So, instead of concluding that sleep apnea has the same impact as
high blood pressure on the kidney, I would rather conclude that this
study suggests that the association between sleep apnea and chronic
kidney disease may exist,” and should be validated with more
powerful studies, she said.
Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea can be treated with
continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) at night which may
decrease high blood pressure and mitigate kidney risk, Kendzerska
said.
“These findings raise the issue of whether the relationship between
sleep apnea and chronic kidney disease is unidirectional or
bidirectional,” she said. “If the importance of sleep apnea and
preventive effect of treatment will be confirmed in further studies,
sleep apnea should be added to the list of modifiable risk factors
considered in (chronic kidney disease) risk assessment.”
The authors of the study did not respond to a request for comment.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/20JMOfk
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