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Sleep apnea and type II diabetes
Two studies, one from 2005 and the other from 2007, concluded that there is a link between sleep apnea and type II diabetes. This article describes the key points of each study and their conclusions. It then suggests what can be gleaned from this information. Sleep apnea is a disruption in sleep caused by a pause in breathing. The pause in breathing is due to central sleep apnea, which is called pause in breathing due to lack of effort. Or is it due to obstructive sleep apnea, which is caused by a blocked airway. If you have seen someone experience this condition...
Sleep apnea and type II diabetes
Two studies, one from 2005 and the other from 2007, concluded that there is a link between sleep apnea and type II diabetes. This article describes the key points of each study and their conclusions. It then suggests what can be gleaned from this information.
Sleep apnea is a disruption in sleep caused by a pause in breathing. The pause in breathing is due to central sleep apnea, which is called pause in breathing due to lack of effort. Or is it due to obstructive sleep apnea, which is caused by a blocked airway. If you have seen anyone experience this condition, it is unmistakable. The person is breathing normally or snoring. There will be a pause and they appear to stutter awake for a moment. In fact, they are not aware of this “awakening” and will fall asleep again. This can happen again and again. Such a moment is called apnea. If 5 such cases occur within an hour, it is referred to as clinical sleep apnea.
An experiment conducted in 2005 by the University of Wisconsin Medical School concluded that the prevalence of diabetes was increased in people with sleep-disordered breathing. It has not been studied whether sleep-disordered breathing is responsible for the development of diabetes.
The study included 1387 people. Sleep apnea was determined by a standard polysomnography test. Diabetes was diagnosed through diagnosis or a fasting test.
Of the group of people with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 15 or more, 14.7% had diabetes. This was in contrast to 2.9% of people who had an AHI of less than 5.
The more recent study was conducted by Yale Medical School in 2007. The experiment focused on the correlation between diabetes II and impaired breathing sleep disorders. 593 people were examined over a period of six years. The conclusion was that people with sleep apnea are two and a half times more likely to develop diabetes than people without sleep apnea.
This study also does not draw any conclusions about sleep apnea causing diabetes and further research is needed.
Some ideas about the possible causal relationship between sleep apnea and diabetes are contradictory. For example, one of the main causes of sleep apnea is being overweight or obese. This is also thought to be made worse if it does not cause type II diabetes. The Yale Medical School study's key researcher, Dr. Nader Botros, however, believes that sleep apnea triggers the “fight or flight” response in patients.
The “fight or flight” response is the classic response to stress. It triggers the release of a number of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, into the body. Excessive cortisol is believed to lead to insulin resistance in the body, which is an early stage of type II diabetes. If a sleep apnea sufferer were to have around 100 apneas per night, this could massively increase cortisol levels in their body and potentially induce insulin resistance.
Again, more research is needed on the connection between sleep apnea and diabetes, but one thing is certain: if you have sleep apnea, you should seek treatment. If left untreated, it can lead to further complications and a constant feeling of fatigue.
Inspired by Adrian Whittle