The Diabetes Blog

According to a new finding that people who have sleep apnea are at greater risk of getting type 2 diabetes. The researching team from Yale University School of Medicine — observed nearly 593 patients who were referred for evaluation of sleep apnea. Team asked each one of them to stay in the sleep lab for a night for a sleep test, which is known as polysomnography. The team monitored the patients for — 6 years and discovered that patients who have sleep apnea had greater risk of becoming diabetic by more than 2 and 1/2 times, in comparison to those who don’t have nighttime breathing disorder. They were categorized according to their severity of sleep apnea, and the patients with more severe sleep apnea are at greater risk of becoming diabetic patients. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. Sleep apnea is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep and this disturbs the sleep hundreds of times over a night. Obesity is most likely to be considered a major cause of sleep apnea. The sleep apnea is found to be linked with hypertension, stroke and heart problems. The continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) — is a therapy which is used for the treatment of sleep apnea. In this type of treatment the air is passed through a mask when the patient is sleeping, by keeping the airway open. This therapy is proved to be helpful in the treatment of sleep apnea. But it is yet to find out whether this therapy for sleep apnea could really help in improving conditions such as diabetes. Nader Botros, M.D., of Yale University mentioned that our further move in this case is to find out whether therapy of sleep apnea is improving the diabetic parameters of an individual or not and along with this they also want to determine the negative effects of diabetes. Dr. Botros said in a prepared statement: The impact of diabetes on public health is great. Diet and exercise, along with a medication regimen, are the mainstays of treatment, but unfortunately diabetes remains a major public health challenge. New approaches are needed to better understand the risk factors for diabetes in order to develop additional preventive strategies. Understanding the link between sleep-disordered breathing and diabetes may represent one such approach. The study is presented on 21st May at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference. Image credit Source