People with diabetes who have obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to develop retina disease then their peers without OSA.
At the outset of the study, they also found that advanced “sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy” was already present in 43 percent of people with sleep apnea, compared to just 24 percent of those without apnea.
“Patients with type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at increased risk of developing advanced retinopathy and also are at increased risk of greater decline in kidney function, as we found in a previous publication,” senior study author Dr. Abd A. Tahrani from University of Birmingham told Reuters Health.
“Hence, diagnosing OSA offers the opportunity to identify a high-risk group of patients which will allow doctors to apply preventative treatment strategy to slow the progression of these complications,” Tahrani said by email.
Get the whole story at www.reuters.com
After suffering a stroke as a direct result of OSA, I found that breathing training can really alleviate symptoms. Neuroplastic changes in the breathing control centers can break the cycle of apnea events for those people who cannot cope with a CPAP mask.