Sleep apnea is now found to worsen Type 2 diabetes, found in a new study. The new research also shows that a large number of diabetics experience obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that is undiagnosed and untreated, leading to complications of diabetes from poor blood sugar control.

According to University of Chicago researcher Renee S. Aronsohn, M.D., instructor of medicine, …”there is a clear, graded, inverse relationship between OSA severity and glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes.”

In a study of 60 individuals, 77 percent were found to have sleep apnea that was either untreated or not yet diagnosed. The more severe the sleep apnea, the less diabetes control was found, measured by a HgA1C test that tells how well blood sugar is controlled over a several month period.

“Our findings have important clinical implications as they support the hypothesis that reducing the severity of OSA may improve glycemic control,” said Dr. Aronsohn. “Thus effective treatment of OSA may represent a novel and non-pharmacologic intervention in the management of type 2 diabetes.”

Obstructive sleep apnea has also been linked to increased risk of mortality from all causes, found in a study published last year titled, “Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study.” Sleep apnea was found to double the risk of dying among men age 40 to 70 and increase death risk by 46 percent in all groups with sleep apnea. The new study finds that sleep apnea makes Type 2 diabetes worse, leads to more complications, and also highlights the needs for physicians to screen patients who are diabetic for OSA. The findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Kathleen Blanchard RN