Snoring and Diabetes

Posted on June 15, 2008

Hard to make a connection?

The world is in the midst of an epidemic of diabetes and snoring. Diabetes now affects over 17 million people in the United States and those in the 30+ age group face a high risk of developing diabetes. As people gain weight some develop diabetes and as they get older, snoring becomes more of a problem. We also know that up to 80 percent of diabetes patients die from cardiovascular problems. Patients with cardiovascular problems are also at a much higher risk of snoring. It is estimated that 90 to 100 million Americans are adversely affected by snoring every night. Since snoring occurs more often as we age and since the average age of the U.S. population is increasing, snoring is expected to become even a larger problem.

Note that up to 25% of patients with sleep disorders suffer from a serious condition called sleep apnea. Apnea is when a person periodically stops breathing during sleep.

Now, researchers have discovered a definite connection between snoring and diabetes. It seems up to 40% of people with apnea are also found to have Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 is often referred to as acquired diabetes, usually developing in people who have predisposing traits such as age (over 45), excess weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and family history.

Bottom line. If you have a snoring problem and especially if you have apnea, you should be checked for diabetes. It’s not called the silent killer for nothing.