Weight loss cuts sleep apnea in diabetes

Weight loss cuts sleep apnea in diabetes: Participation in an intensive lifestyle intervention can lead to significant and clinically relevant improvements in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among older obese patients with diabetes, researchers report. The study randomised 260 overweight patients (average age 61) with Type 2 diabetes and OSA (average apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), 23 events per hour) to an intensive lifestyle intervention using restricted caloric intake and moderate exercise, or to a series of three group sessions on diabetes management (control group). At 1 year follow-up the intensive-intervention patients had lost significantly more weight (10.8 kg vs. 0.6 kg; P < .001) and showed a significant improvement in sleep apnea. At 1 year, more than three times as many participants in this group had total remission of their OSA, and the prevalence of severe OSA was half that of the control group.

Arch Intern Med 2009; 169:1619-1626.