Sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by interrupted breathing during sleep, may increase the chance of chronic disease and even death, say researchers at Johns Hopkins University, according to Reuters. The authors of the study, published in PLoS Medicine, followed more than 6,400 men and women between the ages of 40 and 70 for about eight years. Their findings suggest that those with severe sleep apnea face a 46 percent greater risk of dying early than those without sleep breathing problems, according to Reuters. Men with severe sleep apnea saw their risk of dying more than double; they were also at greater risk of cardiovascular disease. People with mild sleep apnea did not face a greater risk of premature death, researchers found.

    The latest study is the largest to date to look at sleep apnea and the risk of death. Last year, Australian researchers reported similar findings in the journal Sleep after studying 380 adults.

    路透社報道，約翰·霍普金斯大學的研究人員發現，一種以睡眠時呼吸中斷為特征的機能失調，即"睡眠呼吸暫停",會使人增加罹患慢性病的幾率，嚴重時甚至會導致死亡。該課題研究人員在《公共圖書館藥學雜志》上發表了這份報告。8年來，總共有6400人接受了這項研究，他們的年齡均在40歲至70歲之間。研究表明，嚴重"睡眠呼吸暫停"患者較無此癥狀者早亡的幾率高46%,其中男性患者死亡的概率更是高達兩倍。同時，他們還更容易罹患心血管疾病。不過研究者發現，輕度"睡眠呼吸暫停癥"患者并沒有太大的危險。

    這份報告是關于"睡眠呼吸暫停癥"及其引致的死亡的最新研究成果。去年，澳大利亞科研人員在對380名成年人研究后，就曾在《睡眠》雜志上報道過與此類似的研究成果。