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.
To read more on this study, visit http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-apnea-linked-carbohydrate-craving-diabetics.html.
