Type 2 diabetes
Glucose is a simple sugar found in most food you eat. When you eat, glucose from your food passes from your digestive system into your blood supply. It does not remain there for long, as your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin causes fat, liver and muscle cells to absorb the glucose from your blood. It is then stored in these cells ready for future energy production.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the level of glucose in your blood becomes too high. Your body becomes both resistant to insulin and less able to make it. Glucose accumulates in the blood and is passed out of the body in urine. Left untreated, type 2 diabetes can damage your heart, nerves and eyes.
Metabolic syndrome
If you have type 2 diabetes you are at risk of developing metabolic syndrome, where your body has a problem storing and using fat as well as sugar. If left untreated, this can lead to heart disease and stroke.
The main risk factors for metabolic syndrome are:
- Excess fat around your waist
- Excess fat in your blood
- Low levels of ‘good’ cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- High blood glucose levels (due to type 2 diabetes).
Effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea can worsen type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. This is because Obstructive Sleep Apnoea:
- Makes your body more resistant to insulin
- Reduces the amount of insulin made by the pancreas
- Activates the fight-or-flight response, which increases the amount of glucose released from the liver into the blood supply
- Causes high blood pressure.
If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea you may already be overweight or less physically active. This can also place you at risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
