Sleep Apnea Treatment Also Reduces Risk of Diabetes

The article I found pertains to treatments for sleep apnea. It implied that such treatments are capable of improving blood sugar levels of those who suffer from prediabetes. While some people may not be aware, many patients who have this early stage also have untreated apnea. As Terri E Weaver stated in her paper, “Innovative treatments for adults with obstructive sleep apnea,” the primary treatment has been continuous positive airway pressure… preventing the airway collapse…” (Weaver 2014). According to Sushmita Pamidi, MD, if this procedure is used for a full night, or eight hours of sleep, it can reduce the risk of diabetes progression. Patients with sleep apnea have episodes when the upper airway closes as they are sleeping, and a correlation has been found between this and the increase of cardiovascular diseases. This disruption of sleep would cause oxygen levels to decreases, and cause hypertension or a “decrease in the ability to regulate blood sugar levels” (University of Chicago Medical Center). A study was conducted using middle-aged, overweight people who suffer from both prediabetes and sleep apnea. It was found that those who did the CPAP treatment for eight hours had better blood sugar control than those who simply had an oral placebo (a pill with no medicine).

            Yet Weaver mentions in her paper that patients have become impatient with the treatment due to “unacceptable levels of treatment,” which is why novel treatments are being introduced. These include oral pressure devices, nasal expiratory positive airway pressure, laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty, and radiofrequency ablation. Weaver further states that there have not been many treatments that work as efficiently as CPAP, especially for major cases of apnea. Even though the new approaches have been proven to work, “few have been robustly evaluated in randomized clinical trials and those that have had small sample sizes and limited outcomes” (Weaver). I find it a bit disheartening that people would disapprove of a procedure that may be tedious but gives more efficient outcomes, while they approve of treatments that haven’t even been entirely tested yet. Not only this, but trying to find an alternative may be at an expense of decreasing the ability to prevent diabetes from progressing. Even though it is disappointing that illnesses can be linked like this, advancement must be done with such consequences in mind. 

University of Chicago Medical Center. "Effective sleep apnea treatment lowers diabetes risk." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 April 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150427163849.htm>.