Sleep apneaCybersnewzzz newsletter
Nov/Dec 2002
Diabetes and Sleep Apnea: Is there a connection??
You are aware of sleep apnea but did you know many people with sleep apnea also have diabetes. What is it?
Diabetes is the failure of the pancreas to make enough insulin for your body or a resistance of the body to use the insulin produced. Insulin helps carry glucose or sugar to the cells to supply energy to tissue and muscles. Diabetes is a chronic, incurable condition but can be controlled.
Type 2 diabetes usually begins later in life (affecting people over 40) and may be controlled by diet, pills or insulin injections. The symptoms are blurred vision, excessive thirst, passing urine frequently, excessive hunger, tiredness, feeling out of sorts and weight loss. Sometimes people who are on large amounts of Prednisone may develop diabetes. Type 2 diabetes comes on gradually and may be undiagnosed and untreated, allowing complications such as kidney failure and loss of eyesight to develop.
If you have these symptoms or you are obese you may want to talk to your doctor about getting tested. Your doctor can order a glucose tolerance test to determine if you have diabetes as well as discuss what treatment is needed to control it.
Research shows that prevalence of diabetes increases with the degree of obesity so the more overweight the person the greater chance of having diabetes. (Ref. Erem C et al 2001)
In another study by Al-Delaimy WK in Harvard School of Public Health, research showed a consistent association between snoring and Type 2 diabetes.
In men aged 30-69 years, habitual snoring is associated with an increased incidence of diabetes within 10 years. Although obesity is the main risk factor for developing diabetes, habitual snoring may add to this hazard. (Ref. Elmasry A J Intern Med 2000)
A study done in 2000 by Chasens ER et al in Detroit, Michigan showed that people with diabetes and those reporting daytime sleepiness had a three to four fold risk of sleep apnea. They also showed that diabetics had more trips to the bathroom during the night and in general their self-rated health was decreased.
The most common conditions associated with obesity are diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea and other respiratory problems. While some of the studies focus on those who have diabetes and then develop snoring or sleep apnea, others deal with those who have sleep apnea and also develop diabetes. This is an area that is receiving a lot of attention in the scientific community and more research is on the way.
In the meantime the best non-medical treatment for sleep apnea is weight control.
- Some people have apneas during sleep but have no daytime symptoms. Those people do not have sleep apnea syndrome.
- 30% of people snore. Snorers are more sleepy in the daytime than non-snorers.
- Sleep apnea carries a 1 to 3 fold risk of having high blood pressure.
- Weight control is the best non-medical treatment for sleep apnea. A 1% reduction in weight means a 3% reduction in apneas.
Laff Lines…
One day after a nasty streak of bad weather, I asked my teenage son to take our dog for a long walk after school. When I came home from work, I found my son stretched out on the recliner, watching television. He had leash in hand while the dog trotted happily away on the treadmill!
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