Sunday, September 30, 2012

Carb Craving Linked to Sleep Apnea

At Cooley Smiles Cosmetic & Family Dentistry in Bellevue, WA, we believe in offering our patients the very best and latest in information for their overall health. In June we shared information via our sleep apnea newsletter about a recent study that has linked sleep apnea with an increase in carbohydrate craving. Unsure whether sleep apnea is affecting your life? We can help - so call us today!

June 13, 2012 in Sleep apnea

Researchers in New Jersey are encouraging primary care physicians to screen for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with Type 2 diabetes. They found that in a small sample of clinic patients, the risk for sleep apnea was high among diabetics compared with non-diabetics, and that sleep apnea appeared to be associated with carbohydrate craving.

Their study, being presented today at SLEEP 2012, screened 55 patients for diabetes, OSA and carbohydrate cravings. More than half of the patients were diabetic. Among the diabetic patients, the prevalence of OSA was 82 percent, and diabetics had almost double the risk of carbohydrate craving than non-diabetics. In addition, researchers found that patients with OSA were almost twice more likely to have carbohydrate craving than patients without sleep apnea.

"This study provides an indication of the magnitude of the associated risk between sleep apnea and self-reported carbohydrate craving in the diabetic population," said study co-investigator Mahmood Siddique, DO, clinical associate professor of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.

"Previous studies have shown that sleep deprivation may lead to changes in hormones that regulate appetite and hunger," Siddique said. "These hormonal changes can lead to significant craving for high-calorie carbohydrates such as cookies, candy, breads, rice and potatoes. The current study supports previous findings by validating this in a community sample of diabetics."

The study, conducted by the Sleep and Wellness Medical Associates LLC, is one of the first cross-sectional clinic-based studies to show an association between OSA and self-reported carbohydrate craving among patients with Type 2 diabetes.
 

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