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Snoring increases risk for dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome in young adults
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Snoring, but not sleep duration, may be an independent risk factor for dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome in young adults, according to findings published in the International Journal of Obesity.
Pablo E. Brockmann, MD, PhD, of the department of pediatric cardiology and pulmonology, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago, and colleagues analyzed data from 2,147 adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 40 years who completed the 2nd Chilean National Health Survey, a large-scale, population-based study launched in 2009-2010 (42% male; mean age, 28 years; mean BMI, 26.3 kg/m²). Questionnaires included a module dedicated to sleep-related issues; participants were asked if “someone told them they always snore” and if “someone had witnessed them having an apnea or stop breathing.” All participants provided a fasting blood sample. Researchers used regression models to evaluate the association between snoring and metabolic syndrome, hypertension and cholesterol.
Within the cohort, snoring was present in 934 (43.5%) participants. Short sleep duration was present in 663 (25%) participants for workdays and 527 (20%) participants for weekdays; 205 (19.5%) participants had metabolic syndrome. Researchers found that the OR for metabolic syndrome among participants who reported snoring was 2.13 vs. non-snorers (95% CI, 1.52-2.99). In addition, snorers had total and LDL cholesterol levels that were on average 7.26 mg/dL and 6.56 mg/dL higher, respectively, after adjustment for age, sex and BMI. The presence of “witnessed apnea or stopped breathing” was associated with a mean 25.07-point increase in triglycerides (95% CI, 0.7-49.44). Odds of hypertension were not increased by snoring after adjustment.
Short sleep was not a modulating cofactor of the association found between snoring, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome, according to the researchers.
“Our findings provide confirmatory evidence whereby snoring may increase the risk for [metabolic syndrome] and some of its components, even among adolescents and younger adults, suggesting that even if age-dependent variations in such risk exist across the age spectrum, snoring should be viewed as an age-independent risk factor for [metabolic syndrome],” the researchers wrote. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
Back to TopKaren Bonuck, PhD
This paper concerns the impact of snoring (as a marker for sleep-disordered breathing) in adults primarily and not adolescents, as the mean age was 27 years. The researchers did not analyze the independent effects of short sleep duration upon outcomes. Rather, they included short sleep duration as a confounding variable in the analysis. I would have been interested in seeing analyses in which short sleep duration served as the independent predictor of metabolic outcomes, with and without controlling for sleep-disordered breathing. In addition, there are limitations not cited about the cross-sectional nature of the data, and some lack of clarity about the recall period for report of the sleep duration and snoring outcomes.
Disclosure: Bonuck reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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