Very Disappointed by Doctors (Diabetes & Sleep Apnea)

roster · Post by **roster** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:53 pm

Sleep apnea remains widely undiagnosed in obese diabetics

Washington, May 22 : Sleep apnea remains widely undiagnosed among obese individuals with type 2 diabetes, finds a new study.

The researchers found that nearly 87 percent of participants reported symptoms, but were never diagnosed.

"The high prevalence of undiagnosed, and therefore, untreated sleep apnea among obese patients with diabetes constitutes a serious public health problem," said Dr Gary Foster, lead author and director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University.

In the Sleep AHEAD study involving 306 obese patients with type 2 diabetes the researchers found that 86.6 percent of participants had sleep apnea, yet reported never being diagnosed.

More than 30 percent of these had between 16 and 20 episodes per hour where they would stop breathing, and 22 percent had more than 30 episodes per hour, considered severe sleep apnea.

Most of the participants had a larger waist circumference, which researchers found, along with higher BMI, to be significantly associated with sleep apnea.

The researchers say that these 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.

The study appears in journal Diabetes Care.

--- ANI

http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-42854.html

riverdreamer · Post by **riverdreamer** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:06 pm

Thanks, Rooster! This will help in getting my son a sleep study. Unfortunately, he fits this profile, and I really suspect he has OSA.

Husky Lover · Post by **Husky Lover** » Mon May 25, 2009 9:41 pm

I figure I've had sleep apnea 30 years. Been seeing this doctor 22 years. Been diagnosed diabetic type two over 10 years. Had to ask to be put on insulin a year ago. Had to ask to get a sleep study recently when I thought I was falling to pieces. If not for a friend on cpap and the Internet researching, I'd be a basket case now. WTF am I paying $110 an office visit for???? I think I have more of an education on this stuff than he does! Oh, and where I work does a yearly health screening. They do a fasting blood sugar but never heard of a hemoglobin A1c. I tried to get them to screen for sleep apnea. The head of the screening outfit says "Yeah, a CPAP can help you sleep better". They don't have enough room on the survey sheet to fit in more questions.

roster · Post by **roster** » Tue May 26, 2009 5:14 am

Husky Lover wrote:I figure I've had sleep apnea 30 years. Been seeing this doctor 22 years. Been diagnosed diabetic type two over 10 years. ...........

Unfortunately this is a common story.

Very Disappointed by Doctors (Diabetes & Sleep Apnea)

Very Disappointed by Doctors (Diabetes & Sleep Apnea)

Re: Very Disappointed by Doctors (Diabetes & Sleep Apnea)

Re: Very Disappointed by Doctors (Diabetes & Sleep Apnea)

Re: Very Disappointed by Doctors (Diabetes & Sleep Apnea)