ladybird64 said:
Evening CatLady
I have had a look at the IDF website and to be truthful it made my head ache!
I have been looking at this
http://www.idf.org/webdata/docs/IDF%20c ... _final.doc
and also this
http://www.idf.org/sleep-apnoea-and-type-2-diabetes and it appears that this studies are a bit "all over the place", there seems to be dabte about how much ill effect there really is?
Is there a link you can provide (not the Resmed one) that can give more details of how this problem is a killer? How many people die as a direct result of apnoeas and is this recorded?
I haven't been able to find anything about treatment decreasing the craving for bad foods either, although obviously if one isn't tired then one will be more energetic the following day.
Any more links would be useful please.
Hi ladybird, sorry I missed seeing your post.
The IDF consensus statement is unequivocal. Remember it's aimed at doctors, so the language has to conform to what they are used to. If it said "most diabetics have SA and are at risk of severe illness" then no doctor would pay any attention to it. It has to use words like "suggests" because that's a robust scientific term they will understand/believe. Laypeople would replace with "is" or "means that".
Same with words like "significant". In everyday usage we throw this word around to mean "major", "big" or "a lot". Anyone with a university science degree wouldn't (or shouldn't) do that, because they will be laughed out of court unless they can show a certain level of statistical measure from their research. (And I don't know what that measure is, because I never studied science at varsity - only started reading it online in my spare time for fun!).
There are online SA forums like this one that are a rich source of info and support. I'd rather not post specific links as I try to keep my own online presence compartmentalised. It's easy to find them - an hour of googling and reading reputable sites should locate them and any other info you need. The US sleep medicine professional bodies are also a good source.
Resmed is not just another medical supply firm. They were the first to develop and patent the technology in Sydney Australia after researchers at the local university invented CPAP in 1985. They're also in the top 2 manufacturers globally so they have heaps of resources for developing public information. I've spent years reading about SA online and they are my favourite resource. Like the IDF, they provide references to free online journal articles for further reading.
The hormone/cravings/weight gain theory is newish and not yet as mainstream as the diabetes/hypertension/strokes findings. The place to get the best info about this is the SA forums. I also know in my heart of hearts that this is why I craved carbs and got my body completely out of control - severely obese. I remember that desperately hungry/weak feeling that I no longer get.
Like diabetes, many people are in a sort of denial about SA at first, because their doctors have never talked about it and it's all new. I hope you don't have it and I wish no one here had it. But I would risk my life savings on the bet that some people here do have it and that their doctors need a good kick in the backside.
EDITED - to add - there are numbers on deaths from SA, but they are grossly underestimated because they are usually just put down to diabetes, stroke, emphysema or heart failure. There's also figures available for car crash deaths from people with untreated SA falling asleep at the wheel - this puts the whole public at risk, which is the bigger tragedy.