Daily Mail scare week: sleep apnea gives you cancer
SCARE stories of the week. Each week the Daily Mail scours research papers and press releases for things that will kill you and /or give you cancer. This week:
Monday:
* “New couples who delay sex longest are happiest”
Ergo: Couples you shag from the off are the unhappiest
* “Killer virus warning for British tourists to Yosemite”
The HPA know of no cases of Britons contracting Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). Three holidaymakers have died.
Or as the Mail puts it:
A total of up to 10,000 people who stayed in the lodging cabins in the park’s Curry Village may have been exposed to the potentially fatal disease.
Tuesday
* “Inhalers ‘can make asthma victims shorter in adulthood'”
Short of breath?
* “Lylah’s mother was told she had a tummy bug. The reality? A massive tumour in her stomach”
* “Going for a jog. Dancing. Or just doing some gardening. How taking exercise can trigger a deadly food allergy”
Wednesday
* “A single abortion puts future pregnanies at risk”
* “Sleep disorder ‘can double the risk of fatal cancer'”
Sleep apnoea gives you cancer. Night-night. Lights out…
Dr Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia, of La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Valencia, Spain, said the cancer risk increased with the time spent without oxygen.
The Mail does not report what the NY Times does: “The studies were observational, and other, unknown factors may account for the correlation between sleep apnea and cancer.”
The Mail also does not bother to note that Dr Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia added:
“Our research has only found an association between these disorders but this does not mean that sleep apnea causes cancer.”
The laughably named Jenny HOPE tells Mail readers:
At least 500,000 Britons are affected, mostly middle-aged, overweight men, who may stop breathing hundreds of times a night.
But this site says the link is “between severe sleep apnea and cancer”.
The BBC says the 500,000 figure is too high: “Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning ‘want of breath’ and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.”
The number with servere sleep apnea is less. And what’s life like for those who have the condition? The NHS says:
Other symptoms of OSA include:
feeling very sleepy during the day
waking up with a sore or dry throat
poor memory and concentration
headaches (particularly in the morning)
irritability and a short temper
anxiety
depression
lack of interest in sex
in men, impotence (inability to get or maintain an erection)
And: “Obstructive sleep apnoea is associated with high blood pressure.”
Thursday
* “Get real girls! Pain is part of childbirth”
Such are the horrors….
Posted: 7th, September 2012 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
