£55 million could be saved by NHS if moderate to severe sleep apnoea was treated - An update from Paul Ashbury of Goognight Britain - Try the Snore Centre Mobile App - Sleep apnoea linked to Alzheimer's
£55 million could be saved by NHS if moderate to severe sleep apnoea was treated
The Office for Health Economics and The British Lung Foundation have published a report this month which clearly demonstrates the cost of undiagnosed sleep apnoea to the NHS.
Despite the clear evidence of benefit and value for money, there is evidence from recent research estimating that about 85 per cent of OSA cases currently are undiagnosed and untreated in the UK.
Research found the following OSA prevalence in the UK:
1.5 million adults living with OSA
45 per cent have moderate and severe OSA: 667,000 people
55 per cent have mild OSA
Considering only direct benefits, the report estimates the NHS in the UK would be saving a total of £55 million and producing 40,000 QALYs annually if all people with moderate to severe OSA (45 per cent of the total OSA patient population) were diagnosed and treated with CPAP, relative to none being diagnosed and treated.
If everyone estimated to have moderate to severe OSA in the UK were treated, compared with the estimated current treatment level, the NHS would be saving £28 million pounds and producing 20,000 QALYs annually. Approximately 40,000 road accidents could be prevented.
In addition to direct health benefits to patients and costs/savings to the NHS, treating OSA produces wider economic benefits, including increased productivity due to reduced sleepiness at work, and also quality of life improvements for people close to OSA patients (their bed partners).
Conclusion
The evidence found in the literature demonstrates that OSA patients, the NHS and the wider society in the UK have not yet obtained all of the economic and health benefits that could be achieved. An increase in the rate of uptake of CPAP could double the savings to the NHS and the health benefits to patients compared to the current situation.
An update from Paul Ashbury of "Goodnight Britain"
Paul Ashbury appeared on a BBC sleep show called "Goodnight Britain" back in February 2013. He was suffering from disturbed sleep and diagnosed with sleep apnoea. As a lorry driver by profession he needed to get this under control, and was brought to see us at the Snore Centre.
Paul recently got in touch and gave us an update on his condition:
"Since been on the therapy with Mr Oko, it has dramatically changed my life for the good. It used to be a nightmare for myself and my long suffering partner Clare with the nightly rumblings of my snoring causing a severe strain on our relationship.
"The CPAP machine has got to be the best invention ever, I get on average 7 hrs sleep every night, but would like to say that it would be undisturbed, but it's Clare who keeps waking me now with her snoring.
"I wake up feeling more refreshed than I used to before, no more coming home from work and falling asleep on the sofa, can even do more exercise than before plus I'm losing weight which is a bonus. Only down side, is that sometimes I do wake up with a dry mouth or sore throat, but that's nothing compared to getting a good night's sleep."
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New research suggests poor sleep may increase people's risk of Alzheimer's disease, by spurring a brain-clogging gunk that in turn further interrupts shut-eye. Disrupted sleep may be one of the missing pieces in explaining how a hallmark of Alzheimer's, a sticky protein called beta-amyloid, starts its damage long before people have trouble with memory, researchers reported at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
The new research suggests that sleep problems actually interact with some of the disease processes involved in Alzheimer's, and that those toxic proteins in turn affect the deep sleep that's so important for memory formation.
Walker's team gave PET scans to 26 cognitively healthy volunteers in their 70s to measure build-up of that gunky amyloid. They were given words to memorize, and their brain waves were measured as they slept overnight.
The more amyloid people harbored in a particular brain region, the less deep sleep they got - and the more they forgot overnight, Walker said. Their memories weren't transferred properly from the brain's short-term memory bank into longer-term storage.
What's the risk over time? Two sleep studies tracked nearly 6,000 people over five years, and found those who had poor sleep quality - they tossed and turned and had a hard time falling asleep - were more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, early memory problems that sometimes lead to Alzheimer's, said Dr. Kristine Yaffe of the University of California, San Francisco.
