Posted on April 21, 2008 in Latest News
People with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, independent other risk factors of diabetes, reports a study from Yale University.
Results of the study:
The study looked at 593 subjects and the researchers followed the subjects for up to 6 years and found that subjects diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea had more than two and half times the risk of developing diabetes compared to those without OSA.
The study then divided the subjects into groups based on the severity of the sleep disorder and found that the more severe a person’s OSA, the greater he/she is at risk of developing diabetes.
What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
OSA is one of the more common breathing disorders and sleep disorders characterized by brief interruptions of breathing that lasts for 10 or more seconds during sleep, loud snoring and noisy breathing, mouth breathing, interrupted oxygen intake etc affects an estimated nine million of Americans in a year. In OSA, the upper airways of a person narrows during sleep. Continuous periods of OSA disrupt sleep hundreds times a night.
How Obstructive Sleep Apnea is Linked to Diabetes Risk?
It exactly not known how sleep apnea is linked to diabetes, but the condition activates the body’s fight or flight response. This gives rise to a series of events along with the production of high levels cortisol hormone which ultimately results in insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. When these pre-diabetic conditions are left unnoticed or unchecked leads to the development of diabetes, says Dr. Botros.
Adding to it he said that: “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.”
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