The Link Between Sleep & Other Diseases - Centurion Sleep And Heart Clinic

The Link Between Sleep And Other Diseases

OSA has recently been identified as a stand alone risk of mortality, independent of its associated risk of cardiovascular disease¹.

It is estimated that 77% of bariatric surgery candidates, and up to 58% of diabetes patients also have OSA^{2, 3}.
OSA sufferers are 9 times more likely to have metabolic syndrome⁴. OSA is also independently associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, higher fasting insulin and triglyceride concentrations, decreased HDL cholesterol, increased cholesterol: HDL ratio⁴.
Sleep deprivation is linked to obesity and Type II diabetes. The Sleep Heart Health Study found that subjects who sleep 6 hours or less per night have an odds ratio of 2.51 and 1.33 for diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance respectively⁵.

OSA is associated with decreased cognitive function including poor work performance and diminished concentration^{6, 7}.
An increased respiratory disturbance index of 15 (mild to moderate OSA) is equivalent to 5 years of aging according to psychomotor function⁸.
A recent study investigating the effect of sleep deprivation on the amygdala using functional MRI suggests that the pervasive relationship between sleep disruption and mood disorders including bipolar disorder may more be causally related rather than simply co-occurring⁹.
Depressive patients are 5 times more likely to have OSA¹⁰.

OSA patients are at greater risk of postoperative complications including mortality as a result of general anesthesia¹¹.
Moderate sleep deprivation (17-19 hours without sleep) resulted in motor performance which is equivalent to, or worse than, a blood alcohol level of 0.05%¹². Severe OSA patients are up to 15 times more likely to be involved in a motor vehicle accident compared to non-OSA subjects¹³.

All references within this page can be provided upon request.