In the study, published in Sleep, researchers followed a random sample of 1,522 men and women between the ages of 30 and 60 who participated in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study.
During 18 years of follow-up, 80 people died. Researchers found that adults with sleep-disordered breathing at the start of the study were two to three times more likely to die from any cause compared to those who did not have sleep-disordered breathing.
The risk of death was linked to the severity of sleep-disordered breathing and was not attributable to age, gender, body mass index (an indicator of overweight or obesity), or cardiovascular health status.
In severe sleep-disordered breathing (also known as sleep apnea), the airways repeatedly constrict during sleep, starving the brain of oxygen. This increases the risk of death independently of other factors.
The condition is caused when tissues of the tongue and throat relax, closing the airways. Although the brain sends a message to wake up, such interruptions to sleep can happen as frequently as every couple of minutes, reducing sleep quality.
An estimated 12-18 million Americans have moderate to severe sleep-disordered breathing.
