Researchers form the United Kingdom piled more evidence on to the growing mountain that confirms the benefits of CPAP. In the latest research titled  ”Clinical Outcomes and Cost-effectiveness of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure to Manage Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes in the U.K.”, treatment with CPAP led to significantly better diabetes and blood pressure control at 5 years among diabetics with obstructive sleep apnea, according to results from a case-control study in 300 patients.

The researchers, led by Julian F. Guest, PhD, of Catalyst Health Economics Consultants in Middlesex, England, and King’s College London, examined records from 150 patients with type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). According to reporter Jennie Smith, the data was culled from a national health database that identified who had been treated with CPAP for up to 5 consecutive years, of whom 139 remained on CPAP at year 5, and compared these with 150 controls with both OSA and type 2 diabetes who were not on CPAP.

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CPAP-treated patients had better diabetes management and blood control than their peers who did not use the breathing machines. “Guest and his colleagues sought to discern not only clinical differences between the study groups but also differences in cost effectiveness, and found advantages with CPAP for both,”. “CPAP-treated patients had better-controlled diabetes than did the control patients at 5 years, with hemoglobin A1c of 8.2% in the CPAP group, compared with 12.1% among controls, a significant difference.”

CPAP was also seen increasing patients’ health status significantly, by 0.27 quality-adjusted life years/ patient over the 5-year period, while diminishing costs incurred. In both CPAP users and control patients, blood pressure declined over the study period, and patients’ blood pressure in the CPAP-treated group was significantly lower than that of control patients by year 5.

Source: American Diabetes Association