世界各國阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症和代謝症候群的盛行車都越來越高。趕來有學者提出將代謝症候群合併阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症稱為Z症候群(syndrome Z ) 0阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症是一種睡眠呼吸 障礙，特徵為睡眠時上呼吸道塌陷造成過氣木足或中止的現象。許多研究發現阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症是心血管疾病的獨立危險因子，同時越來越多報告指出阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症可能與代謝症候群發生有關。然而由於肥胖與阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症及代謝症候群均有密切相關，因此目前尚無法確切證實阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症是代謝症候群及其各項危隙因于的獨立影響因素。未來需要更多大型隨機臨床試驗與長期追蹤研究，以釐清其間的因果關係與治療效果口目前阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症造成代謝症候群的機轉仍不清楚，學者推測可能與腦下朦-視丘-腎上眼系統功能改變、間歇性缺氧導致氧化物質增加1系統性發炎以及過多脂肪素產生有關口規律運動是代謝症候群防治策略中的核心介入項目1但對阻塞型睡眠呼吸中止症探討療效的文獻仍相當不足，有待進一步的研究，尤其是對Z症候群的效果刊物理治療2012;37(2):114-125)

The prevalence of both obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome is increasing worldwide. The coexistence of obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome has been termed "syndrome Z" by researchers. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition charaιterized by repetiti ve obstruction of the upper airway and, consequently, collapsed upper airway that leads to a markedl y reduced or absent airflow. There is a large amount of evidence indicating that obstructi ve sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality with a growing body of evidence suggesting that obstructive sleep apnea may be causally related to metabolic syndrome. However, an independent association between obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome or its components has not fully been established because of a confounding effect caused by obesity on both syndromes. High quality large-scale interventional studies and long-term follow-ups are needed to clarify the cause-effect relationship and the role that sleep apnea plays in cardiometabolic morbidity. There is no clear consensus of the mechanisms underlying the interaction between obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome, but researchers have suggested that alterations in the hypothalamic, pituitary-adrenal axis caused by sleep deprivation,and generation of reactive oxygen species due to repetitive intennittent hypoxia, systemic inflammation, and generation of adipokines are implicated. Regular exercise has been recommended as a primary strategy for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome, but its effect on obstructive sleep apnea is lacking significant data. Future studies are needed especially to identify if regular exercise has an effect on syndrome Z. (FJPT 2012;37 (2): 114-125)