Does sleep apnea cause diabetes?

Sleep apnea and diabetes are serious conditions that often occur together. The number of people suffering from diabetes is increasing, yet many people don’t even know they are at risk or why. Some of the terms associated with diabetes may be unfamiliar, which could be one of the reasons people struggle to understand this condition that’s on the rise.

For diabetes and sleep apnea, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance are two terms you should become familiar with. Insulin is a hormone released by your pancreas (a gland in your abdomen behind your stomach that plays a role in hormone production and digestion) to help you store and use the sugar and fat from the food you eat.

When you suffer from sleep apnea, you periodically stop breathing many times a night – as many as hundreds of times a night if your sleep apnea is severe. When your body is deprived of oxygen, your fat cells become resistant to insulin and your glucose levels rise. This is referred to as insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. When this happens, your body may not respond to insulin, and you cannot absorb enough glucose (a simple sugar your body produces from what you eat and drink that is necessary to provide energy to your body).

Diabetes and sleep apnea share another link: many people don’t know they are suffering from either condition. Those with sleep apnea may not be aware they have it, even though they are experiencing symptoms like fatigue and morning headaches. They normally don’t know until a loved one tells them that they snore or stop breathing when they sleep.

How can you tell if you’re at risk? Take a sleep apnea symptom quiz, and be sure to discuss the results with your doctor if you answer “yes” to two or more of the questions.