Fragmented sleep and cancer

I find this news very interesting, and as I said in a recent thread about melatonin, I've always suspected that my then-untreated sleep apnea had a lot to do with my developing prostate cancer.  This study, reported today, indicates the likelihood of a link between fragmented sleep (e.g., sleep apnea) and the development of aggressive cancers.  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/271778.php

A whole lot of men have untreated sleep apnea.  They shrug it off as snoring or something else, but only a sleep study can really determine if it's apnea.  Often, though, a spouse can tell if his/her mate has apnea by noticing that they hold their breath for extended periods of time while sleeping.  They probably snore loudly, though that's not a given.  My wife used to time me, and would tell me that I held my breath for over a minute frequently during the night.  Occasionally, I would awake gasping for breath and in a panic.  After a sleep study and with the use of a CPAP machine, I sleep great, don't snore, and wake up refreshed rather than exhausted from a night of tossing and turning.

Sleep apnea is serious.  It puts stress on every organ.  And now it appears that it may be a contributor to the development of cancer and cancerous tumors.

Great piece. Thank you for sharing. I'm wondering how much getting too little sleep factors into this, also? Fragmented sleep is akin to not enough sleep.

My schedule is quite hectic and doesn't allow for a full 8 hours, or more, of sleep. This can't be good for me in general and moreso considering I'm now a cancer survivor.

This has opened my eyes. I need as normal of a sleep life as possible. I've been pondering change for a long long time and this may finally tip the scales to push me over the edge.

Good ol sleep or lack there of.

I've been through a sleep center twice.. My apnea was in the OK but not perfect range both times... And from what I've been told - I snore real badly.

I got a $2000 CPAP machine for the cost of a 20 dollar co-pay but never could get the hang of it.

If I'm lucky - I get six and half hours of sleep. All the experts say that is fine and not everyone needs 8... My problem that I almost don't mind is I go to bed at 9 if I can stay awake that long and wake up at 3am seven days a week.... On the weekends, I can generally lay down between 6 and 7 am and knock out a 3 hour nap.

Interesting read, thanks for posting links.
Sounds like me too. I have had really troubled sleep and nighttime breathing issues for years.
My dad used to stop breeathing at night a lot and my mum had to give up sleeping in the same bedroom as him as it scared her so much.

I often surprised by people I meet, know who cannot understand the idea that I have troubel sleeping. They moan about having woken up in the night and look at me aghast when I say I would love it if I only woke up once in the night. I can't remember not having woken up at night, right from when I was a young kid.

I must look into it a bit more to see what I can do to help.

Alf

Post Edited (English Alf) : 1/29/2014 9:02:38 AM (GMT-7)