People with Sleep Apnea Live Longer on CPAP in Large, Late-Breaking ResMed-Supported ALASKA Study Presented at ERS

LYON, France, Sept. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Using PAP (positive airway pressure) therapy as directed can significantly increase sleep apnea patients’ chances of living longer, according to a late-breaking abstract presented today at the virtual European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2021 and supported by ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD).

The landmark ALASKA study, “CPAP Termination and All-Cause Mortality: a French Nationwide Database Analysis,” concluded people with obstructive sleep apnea who continued PAP therapy were 39% more likely to survive than OSA patients who didn’t.¹ Researchers observed over 176,000 people in France with sleep apnea over a three-year period. Study authors say the survival rate gap remained significant when accounting for patients’ ages, overall health, other pre-existing conditions, and causes of death.

“Treating sleep apnea with PAP therapy may help you live longer; that’s the key takeaway here for people with sleep apnea and their doctors,” said Adam Benjafield, study co-author and ResMed Vice President of Medical Affairs. “This finding underscores how critical it is to identify the hundreds of millions of people worldwide whose sleep apnea is undiagnosed and untreated.”

An estimated 936 million people worldwide have sleep apnea² – including over 175 million Europeans – but over 80% remain undiagnosed.³

The ALASKA study was conducted in partnership with Professor Jean-Louis Pépin; universities of Grenoble, San Diego, and Sydney; Sêmeia; and other researchers from ResMed’s industry-academia collaboration medXcloud.

ResMed at ERS

This study is one of fourteen ERS-accepted abstracts presented, co-authored, or otherwise supported by ResMed, a global leader in sleep and respiratory care research and digitally connected therapy solutions.

On Tuesday, ResMed’s Benjafield presented the latest estimated prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Europe from 2020 out to 2050. The European analysis, modelled on global burden of disease and world bank population data, reports 36.6 million Europeans have COPD as of 2020, and predicted prevalence will rise 39.6% to approximately 49.5 million by 2050.⁴

About ResMed
At ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD) we pioneer innovative solutions that treat and keep people out of the hospital, empowering them to live healthier, higher-quality lives. Our digital health technologies and cloud-connected medical devices transform care for people with sleep apnea, COPD, and other chronic diseases. Our comprehensive out-of-hospital software platforms support the professionals and caregivers who help people stay healthy in the home or care setting of their choice. By enabling better care, we improve quality of life, reduce the impact of chronic disease, and lower costs for consumers and healthcare systems in more than 140 countries. To learn more, visit ResMed.com and follow @ResMed.

1 Pepin JL et al. “CPAP termination and all-cause mortality: a French nationwide database analysis.” ERS abstract, 2021
2 Benjafield AV et al. Lancet Resp Care 2019
3 Young T et al. Sleep 1997
4 Benjafield AV et al. “An estimate of the European prevalence of COPD in 2050.” ERS abstract, 2021