Fifty-four male patients with sleep apnea, from the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Sepulveda, California, were studied for other health issues. This study sample indicates that patients with sleep apnea are three times more likely to have diabetes than normal. The study did not find any direct link between apnea and diabetes. The common thread between the two disorders may simply be weight. Obesity is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, which usually strikes people in middle and older age.
Obesity is also a risk factor for sleep apnea.
The study also agreed with previous studies that found that people with sleep apnea suffer more strokes than the general population. Children Suffer from Sleep Disorders Sleep disorders are not restricted to adults. Children of all ages can have sleep problems, and suffer from them just as adults do. Dr. Judith Owens of Brown University led a study of almost five hundred youths, plus their parents and teachers, in a Rhode Island suburban school district. The results of the study were published in the journal Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics last year.