Diabetes more likely in sleep apnea sufferers

According to a new study from a team of Mexican researchers, people who have respiration and heartbeat abnormalities while they sleep, known as obstructive sleep apnea, could go on to develop diabetes, especially if there’s a family history of the disease. Sleep apnea is an airway obstruction caused by the tongue which causes breathing disruptions for a number seconds.

A person with apnea and diabetes risk factors is more likely to get the metabolic disease, since the sleep disorder causes metabolic transformations by escalating insulin resistance, the study team said. They added that low-quality sleep causes an increase in weight because the brain transmits signals that produce a boost in appetite and the desire to eat carbohydrates.

Study author Rossana Huerta Albarran, a neurology specialist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), noted that using electronic devices in bed could exasperate the problems associated with sleep apnea. Rafael Santana, medical specialist at the Sleep Disorders Clinic of the UNAM, said there is no perfect amount of time that a person should sleep, as it depends on age and needs of the body. For example, an infant might need up to 16 hours a day, but Human Haptoglobin ELISA Kit http://www.cusabio.com/ELISA_Kit-83112/ may only need four or five hours. Another study published in November revealed that sleep apnea also leads to lower exercise capacity – potentially amplifying the negative metabolic impacts of the condition.

That study, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, found individuals with moderate to acute obstructive sleep apnea could have an intrinsic lack of ability to burn high levels of oxygen during intense aerobic exercise. The study researchers said their findings remained consistent even after considering the effects of obesity.