This common disorder could make COVID-19 worse

New data suggests that a very common illness could lead to “more severe” outcomes from COVID-19, including 31% higher death and hospitalization rates.

The study, conducted by the Cleveland Clinic and published on the JAMA Network last Wednesday, found that people with sleep disorders had a poorer clinical prognosis from the virus. According to the American Sleep Association, 50 to 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder.

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The researchers analyzed the data from over 5,000 of their patients and found that while sleep disorders did not increase the risk of contracting COVID-19, they increased the risk of poorer outcome as the disease progressed.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and the disease varies widely from patient to patient, it is critical to improve our ability to predict who will have more severe illnesses so we can allocate resources appropriately,” said Dr. Reena Mehra, director of Sleep Disorder Research at Cleveland Clinic, in a statement. “This study has improved our understanding of the relationship between insomnia and the risk of adverse COVID-19 outcomes. It suggests that inflammation biomarkers can mediate this relationship. “

The link between sleep and a poorer COVID-19 prognosis is not fully understood, but it makes sense since sleep disorders have long had an impact on other illnesses, increasing the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and more.

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Further studies on sleep and COVID-19 could offer other treatment options and perhaps save more lives. “If sleep-related hypoxia does indeed lead to poorer COVID-19 outcomes, risk stratification strategies should be implemented to prioritize early allocation of COVID-19 therapy to this subset of patients,” said Cynthia Pena Orbea, MD and lead author of the study .