Losing weight reduces the risk factors for many diseases, especially cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea. Shedding just 10 pounds, for example, can lower blood pressure. Weight loss also lowers blood sugar and improves cholesterol levels.

Now, it looks like a new benefit can be added to the list. Losing weight can reduce urinary incontinence in women who are overweight or obese. In a randomized trial funded by the National Institutes of Health, moderate weight loss in a group of heavy women who undertook a six-month diet and exercise program cut the frequency of urinary incontinence episodes by nearly a half.

Urinary incontinence affects more than 13 million women in the United States. It not only causes inconvenience and emotional stress, it also raises the risk of falls, fractures, and nursing home admissions. Obesity has long been associated with urinary leakage in women, but until now, there’s been little research to confirm that losing weight would help reverse the problem — or to suggest how much weight loss would be needed. Read the rest of this entry

Obesity remains a major problem in the Coastal Bend, a troubling statistic because of its association with sleep apnea , type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, a regional health study found.

Nearly two-thirds of the 500 people surveyed were overweight or obese, a statistic that did not surprise health care and social service providers interviewed for the study, according to the 2010 Coastal Bend Community Health Needs Assessment.

The providers said the most frequent condition they saw in the past year was obesity and overweight patients, according to the study. Read the rest of this entry

If you are suffering from sleep apnea disorder then you’re not breathing properly while you sleep because your airflow is blocked repeatedly throughout the night.

Nearly one in four men and one in ten women suffer from the sleep apnea disorder . There are three specific types of sleep apnea disorder but Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common among them. Among all of the sleep disorders, OSA goes hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes.

In a survey on the subject it was revealed that the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has the strongest association with type 2 diabetes.” That’s even taking into account other risk factors, such as weight, sex and age. Read the rest of this entry

Scientists say sleep deprivation also slows your metabolism down as well. Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found that insomnia could encourage you to pile on the pounds by slowing down the rate at which the body burns calories.

Study leader Christian Benedict, said: ‘Our findings show that one night of sleep deprivation acutely reduces energy expenditure in healthy men, which suggests sleep contributes to the acute regulation of daytime energy expenditure in huma

Older studies have linked sleep deprivation with weight gain and also shown how disrupted sleep also disrupts levels of stress – and hunger-related hormones during waking hours. Read the rest of this entry

Research into the link between diabetes and sleep patterns has revealed that people who suffer from the metabolic condition and who don’t sleep well have higher insulin resistance, and also find it more difficult to manage their diabetes.

The study, published in Diabetes Care, assessed the sleep of 40 people with type 2 diabetes over six nights, checking if they were suffering any problems with their sleep, such as insomnia, sleep apnea or snoring . They also provided blood samples so the researchers could analyse insulin and glucose levels .

It was found that the diabetics who were also poor sleepers had 23 per cent higher levels of blood glucose in the morning, as well as 48 per cent higher levels of blood insulin. For insulin resistance, these figures meant that poor sleepers with diabetes had 82 per cent higher insulin resistance than normal sleepers with diabetes. Want to learn how to help people to be relaxed and sleep well? Check out a bachelors in psychology.

Kristen Knutson, lead author on the study, commented “People who have a hard time controlling their blood glucose levels have a greater risk of complications. They have a reduced quality of life . And, they have a reduced life expectancy .”

Eve Van Cauter, co-author of the study, also said “This suggests that improving sleep quality in diabetics would have a similar beneficial effect as the most commonly used anti-diabetes drugs .” Diabetics are generally known to have worse sleep patterns than non-diabetics, and poor sleep has even been blamed as a potential risk factor for developing the disease.

QNEXA [kyoo-nek-suh] is an investigational drug  candidate being developed to address weight loss, type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. QNEXA is a once-a-day, proprietary, oral, controlled-release  formulation of low-dose phentermine and topiramate, which is designed to  decrease appetite and increase satiety (the sense of feeling full), the two main  mechanisms that impact eating behavior. In phase 2 and 3 clinical data to date,  patients taking QNEXA have demonstrated statistically significant weight loss, glycemic control, and improvement in  cardiovascular risk factors, when used in combination with a diet and lifestyle  modification program.

VIVUS is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to address obesity,  sleep apnea, diabetes and male sexual health. The company’s lead product in  clinical development, QNEXA®, has completed phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of obesity and is currently being considered for approval by US and EU  regulators. QNEXA® is also in phase 2 clinical development for the  treatment of type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. In the area of sexual  health, VIVUS is in phase 3 development with avanafil, a PDE5 inhibitor being  studied for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. For more information about  the company, please visit www.vivus.com

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Diabetes have a close relationship.

“There is increasing attention to the causes, consequences, and treatment of OSA. OSA is a condition that millions of Americans suffer from, many without knowing it”,says .Dr. Gary D. Foster, a member of the Advisory Board for DiabetesCare.net

According to Dr. Foster obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is closely associated with impaired faster glucose, glucose intolerance, and type 2 diabetes.

“A recent comprehensive literature review, comprised of 83 studies, found among all of the sleep disorders, OSA has the strongest association with type 2 diabetes,. It is possible that the relationship goes in both directions. Poor sleep quality and intermittent hypoxemia from OSA may serve as the catalyst for glucose dysregulation. Over time these abnormalities may accelerate weight gain, which increases the severity of OSA”, explained Dr. Foster

If you have the disorder, you’re not breathing properly while you sleep because your airflow is blocked repeatedly throughout the night. Nearly one in four men and one in ten women suffer from it. (There are a couple of other varieties, but OSA is the most common.) And it goes hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes. In a survey on the subject, Gary D. Foster, PhD, wrote that, “among all of the sleep disorders, OSA has the strongest association with type 2 diabetes.”  That’s even taking into account other risk factors, such as weight, sex and age.

The main risk factor for OSA is obesity. “Excess weight deposits extra fat around the thorax, reducing chest compliance and functional capacity, while increasing oxygen demand,” wrote Foster, a professor of medicine and public health and the Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. Read the rest of this entry