Thursday, September 20, 2012

Obstructive sleep apnea, stroke, obesity, and type 2 diabetes

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), stroke, elevated weight, and type 2 diabetes often exist together. Sorting out what contributes to what is difficult to do. The authors of the study in the Sleep Journal studied how OSA severity is related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in obese type 2 diabetics. The subjects were studied with home sleep tests and asked subjectively about CVD.

The results showed that the risk of stroke increased with the OSA severity. However, OSA severity did not correlate with increased risk of other CVD like coronary heart disease or heart attack. The authors concluded that moderate to severe OSA could further increase stroke risk in obese type 2 diabetics. Of course, more studies will be need to see if treating OSA in those patients reduces stroke risk.

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