An effective treatment for sleep apnoea will become more widely available on the NHS after new guidance issued today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

It has concluded that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) – a treatment in which air is blown into the airways through a face mask – is a cost-effective treatment.

Untreated, sleep apnoea causes poor sleep, constantly interrupted by periods of wakefulness. It is caused by closure of the upper airway during sleep. Symptoms of sleep apnoea include heavy snoring, daytime sleepiness and poor concentration.

The obstruction interrupts breathing, preventing air from entering the lungs and forcing the sufferer to wake briefly before falling back to sleep again. This can happen hundreds of times a night.

Sufferers have been shown to be seven to 12 times more likely to have a road accident than normal sleepers and, in experiments, perform worse than drivers with blood alcohol levels above the legal limit.

The British Thoracic Society, welcoming the NICE decision, said that more than 300 people a year are killed as a result of drivers falling asleep.

The society estimates that the guidance could save 400 lives and £400 million over five years by reducing road accidents.

Sleep apnoea can also contribute to the development of hypertension, heart disease and stroke. The evidence is that CPAP can restore normal daytime alertness, reducing road traffic accidents by up to 83 per cent and reducing blood pressure sufficiently to cut the risk of heart attack by 20 per cent and stroke risk by 40 per cent.

NICE announced that CPAP should be available via the NHS as treatment for adults with moderate or severe sleep apnoea. More than half a million Britons suffer from the condition.

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