Sleep apnea has always been known to have a connection with obesity. This disorder is widely undiagnosed among obese individuals with type 2 diabetes – nearly 87 percent of participants reported symptoms, but was never diagnosed, says a new study which was published in the June issue of Diabetes Care.
Sleep apnea doesn’t only mean that their sleep is disrupted. This can also increase the risk of a heart disease or an attack, says new research.
Gary Foster, PhD, lead author and director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University, says, “The high prevalence of undiagnosed, and therefore, untreated sleep apnea among obese patients with diabetes constitutes a serious public health problem.”
Sleep AHEAD, a new study, studied 306 obese patients all suffering with type 2 diabetes. They were already involved in the Look AHEAD trial. This was a 16-site study investigation.  It was looking at the long-term health impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention in 5, 145 overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes.
Each patient had a sleep study or a polysomnogram. This measured all kinds of breathing and brain activity during sleep. A series of questions were also filled out by the participants regarding symptoms related to sleep. Symptoms are usually snoring or sleepiness during the day. They had their weight, height, waist and neck circumferences measured.
86.6 percent of participants had sleep apnea, according to researchers. These were reported, never been diagnosed. 30 percent of these had between 16 and 20 episodes per hour where they would stop breathing during their sleep. 22 percent had more than 30 episodes per hour. These were considered to have severe sleep apnea. Most of these patients had larger waist circumference.
Researchers says the new findings are alarming. “Doctors who have obese patients with type 2 diabetes need to be aware of the possibility of sleep apnea, even if no symptoms are present, especially in cases where the patient has a high BMI or waist circumference,” said Foster.
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