Diabetes and Sleep Disorders

The reported prevalence of OSAH in the United States has varied from 1 to 25%. While many studies that have reported prevalence of OSAH have included patients with moderate to severe obesity (often with BMI in excess of 40 kg/m2) the prevalence of OSAH in the mildly obese was unknown, until recently. A study conducted

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. It is estimated that more than half of the adult population in this country is overweight or obese. The striking increase in the prevalence of obesity over the last two decades has affected men and women across all ages and in various racial and ethnic groups.

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAH) – OSAH is defined as the presence of an AHI or a RDI >5 events/h in a symptomatic patient or an AHI or a RDI >15 events/h in an asymptomatic patient. The severity of OSAH is defined based on the AHI or the RDI (mild OSAH 5–15 events/h; moderate OSAH

The increasing incidence of both diabetes and sleep apnea coincides with the epidemic of obesity. An increasing body of evidence suggests that the connections between diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAH) are not simply due to the common risk factor of obesity. Physiologic derangements that result from OSAH appear to lead to impaired glucose