A Canadian study has shown that there is a possible increased risk of diabetes when a person is suffering with sleep apnoea. The study involved more than 8600 people.
These people were followed from 1994, all of the subjects had sleep apnoea but not diabetes. In May 2011, 1017 or 11.7% had developed type 2 diabetes.
The researchers suggest that sleep apnoea deprives the body cells of oxygen and also raises the heart rate which is associated with a biological link to diabetes.
Once the usual factors like smoking, weight, age, sex, income levels and other medical issues were controlled, it was shown that in people who had severe OSA there was a 30% increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
The researchers also made the point that the study does not prove that sleep apnoea causes diabetes however it does associate the two conditions.
