Study suggests link between diabetes, sleep apnea

NEW YORK A British study led by researchers at Oxford University indicates that diabetes could be linked to obstructive sleep apnea and retinopathy.

Research presented last week at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th international conference in San Diego showed that 54% of the 118 men with Type 2 diabetes who had OSA also had retinopathy, compared with 31% of those without OSA.

Moreover, the presence of retinopathy was independent of other factors such as hypertension, blood glucose control, body mass index or the amount of time the patients had the disease.

“We know from our earlier research that 23% of men with Type 2 diabetes have OSA, and this is under-recognized and under-treated,” Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine researcher and lead study author Sophie West said in a statement. “This study suggests that OSA is linked to retinopathy in Type 2 diabetes.”