CPAP improves sleeping glucose levels in type 2 diabetes patients

Westchester, Ill. –A study in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that screening type 2 diabetes patients for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and treating those who have OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy could improve the management of their hyperglycemia and might favorably influence their long-term prognosis.

Results show that in a group of 20 type 2 diabetics who were mostly obese and were newly diagnosed with OSA, sleeping and nocturnal hyperglycemia were reduced and the sleeping interstitial glucose level was less variable during CPAP treatment. The average glucose level during sleep decreased by approximately 20 mg/dl after an average of 41 days of CPAP. The sleeping glucose also was more stable after treatment, with the median standard deviation decreasing from 20.0 to 13.0 and the mean difference between maximum and minimum values decreasing from 88 to 57.

Read the full article at eurekalert.org