Have A Risk Asthma? Research Calls Regular Sleep Patterns Can Reduce Effects

Illustration (Meruyert Gonullu/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Scientists in the United States (US) have found that a healthy sleep pattern can protect themselves from asthma, even if a person has genetic factors that are prone to respiratory conditions. Asma is a chronic inflammatory condition that clogs airways into the lungs, causing shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest.

Respiratory conditions affect more than 4.8 million children under the age of 18 and 21 million adults in the United States, Medical Daily reported, reported by ANTARA. The most common factor that causes asthma is family history, although other factors such as childhood respiratory infections, allergic conditions, or exposure to certain chemicals can trigger these conditions.

Genetic vulnerability makes a person three to six times more likely to have asthma than someone who has no parents with asthma. Many asthma sufferers often report difficulty sleeping and suffer from sleep disorders such as snoring, insomnia, and sleep apnea (interimal breathing during sleep).

Previous research has shown that about 37 percent of people with severe asthma experience insomnia and 27 percent of people with moderate to severe asthma experience sleep apnea. Recent studies held in Great Britain evaluate whether a person's sleep quality has anything to do with the risk of asthma.

The researchers analyzed a sleep pattern of about 455,405 participants in the UK and found that sleep shortages could double a person's risk of being diagnosed with these conditions. The team found participants who had a high genetic risk of asthma and reported poor sleep patterns 122 percent were more likely to develop these conditions than those with low genetic risk and healthy sleep patterns.

Sleep quality is judged based on factors such as sleep duration, sleep coronaty, insomnia, snoring, and excessive drowsiness during the day. Findings show that by identifying and treating sleep disorders early on, the possibility of developing asthma can be reduced regardless of genetic tendencies.

"Individuals with poor sleep patterns and higher genetic susceptibility have an additional higher risk of asthma. Healthy sleep patterns are beneficial in preventing asthma regardless of their genetic condition. Early detection and management of sleep disorders can be useful for reducing incidence of asthma," the researchers said in the study.