As observational studies go, headlines
are overstated and causation is not proved. Yet many headlines use
the terms linked and tied instead of may increase the risk. The lead researcher, Dr. Tetyana
Kendzerska, with the University of Toronto's Institute of Health
Policy, Management, and Evaluation says, “Patients with severe
sleep apnea had a 30 percent higher risk of developing diabetes than
those without sleep apnea.”
The full study, a PDF file, is garnering many
headlines, from HealthDay, to Science Daily and several others. I
developed severe obstructive sleep apnea which was finally diagnosed
in 2001, approximately two years ahead of the diabetes diagnosis. I
knew then that I had OSA for several years prior to that and my wife
said that I had snored and had apneas for at least two years prior.
The sad part was not getting a doctor to believe my wife until I
almost wrecked our car when taking my wife to a doctor appointment.
“Kendzerska cautioned, however,
that this was an observational study, and cannot prove that sleep
apnea causes diabetes. "We are not able to investigate
causality, just an association," she explained”
“Shelby
Freedman Harris, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program
and the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center in
New York City, said, "I definitely think that this is an
important study highlighting the need for more sleep apnea awareness,
screening and treatment. "Given the large sample size, it
further places emphasis on sleep apnea as a predictor of diabetes,
and hopefully with earlier intervention, it can greatly impact the
health costs for diabetes management as well as improve the outcomes
for many patients," she said.”
The most notable limitation of the
study was there was no information about family history of diabetes.
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