Studies Link OSA to Hypertension, Diabetes Risk

Mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased risk of hypertension and diabetes, according to results from 2 recent studies.

In the first study, researchers followed 1741 adults who underwent 8-hour polysomnography and provided detailed medical history at baseline. After 10.1 years, 1250 participants with apnea or hypopnea index of less than 30 and did not have diabetes at baseline were followed up.
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Overall, the incidence of diabetes was 10.2%. After adjustment, moderate OSA was significantly associated with increased risk of diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 2.78), and mild OSA was not associated with diabetes.

In the second study, researchers followed up with 787 participants with apnea or hypopnea index of less than 30 and no hypertension at baseline from the same cohort of 1741 individuals.

Overall, the incidence of hypertension was 25.2%. After adjustment, mild and moderate OSA were significantly associated with increased risk of hypertension (OR 4.35 and OR 3.80, respectively).

“Future studies should examine the potential of biomarkers to improve clinicians’ abilities to predict who, among asymptomatic patients with mild-to-moderate OSA, are at increased risk of adverse cardiometabolic sequelae in the future,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

1. Vgontzas AN, Li Y, He F, et al. Mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea is associated with incident hypertension: a longitudinal, population-based study. Sleep. 2017;40(suppl_1):A158-A159.

2. Li Y, Vgontzas AN, Fernandez-Mendoza J, et al. Moderate obstructive sleep apnea is associated with incident diabetes: a longitudinal, population-based study. Sleep;2017;40(suppl_1): A158.