SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Opioid-based pain medications -- used to treat chronic pain -- may cause sleep apnea, suggest U.S. researchers.
Opioids are often used for cancer patients, but are gaining widespread acceptance as long-term therapy for chronic pain unrelated to cancer.
Lead author Dr. Lynn R. Webster of the Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City studied sleep lab data on 140 patients taking around-the-clock opioid therapy for chronic pain for at least six months.
The study, published in Pain Medicine, showed a higher than expected prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in opioid treated chronic pain patients. Obstructive and central sleep apnea syndromes occurred in the studied population at 75 percent more than observed in the general population, where obstructive sleep apnea is known to be underdiagnosed, but has been estimated at roughly 2 percent to 4 percent.
People who stop breathing during sleep because of faulty brain control have central sleep apnea -- as opposed to obstructive apnea, which is triggered by obesity and other health problems, and is accompanied by loud snoring, Webster said.
