Poor diabetes care in England is leading to avoidable deaths, record rates of complications and huge costs to the NHS, which although spending 10% of its budget on diabetes, most goes on managing complications not preventing them. However this is a worldwide problem and not one to be found just in Britain.

Snoring raises blood pressure and causes diabetes

Despite constant campaigning, it is only now being strongly recommended that Governments and Health Services act to curb a huge health crisis related to all these inter-related factors. However these facts are not new and were published as headlines well over a year ago – and there were other strong indicators before that.

Research has shown that disturbed sleep contributes to overeating and weight gain, which raises blood pressure, which causes diabetes, and that oxygen deprivation can also cause the onset of raised blood pressure and Diabetes. Anyone with night-time breathing issues like snoring or sleep apnea often has high blood sugar and is almost twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study of 6,000 US adults.

Recent figures show that the number of adults in England with diabetes has risen to more than 3 million, and was going up by almost 5% every year. Diabetes UK says the disease is the fastest growing health threat of our times and current care models are not working to get on top of the problem.

The number of people with diabetes is increasing, as is the number of patients who develop complications.

People with sleep apnea were nearly twice as likely as normal sleepers to develop diabetes, and snorers were 27 per cent more likely. Those with daytime sleepiness were also about 50 per cent more likely than those without that symptom to develop diabetes.

The research clearly showed that the more disturbed-breathing symptoms people had during sleep, the greater their diabetes risk. Snoring is a main contributor to many health problems and is at the core of them all. Research has constantly proved it.

MPs have criticised the Department of Health and the NHS in England for being “too slow” to act in preventing and treating diabetes.

A report by the Public Accounts Committee says variations in the care of both type 1 and 2 diabetes mean the annual cost to the health service will continue to rise and not only is the number of people with diabetes increasing, but also the number of patients who develop complications.

For people aged 16 and over the bill currently stands at £5.5bn a year. Most of the £5.5bn-a-year cost is spent on complications from diabetes, such as heart and kidney disease, blindness and nerve damage, leading to amputations. All these things can be reduced by catching the disease early, and managing blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol, and also by preventing snoring.

It isn’t difficult to understand that depriving the brain of a continuous oxygen supply is highly dangerous and can eventually be fatal. Constant research studies at leading hospitals and Universities throughout the world prove the links time and time again, but little is done. We still fail to act – and that includes National Governments, their Health Ministries, and also ourselves.

It is well known that in all countries that most known cases of heavy snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remain ignored and untreated, although some are better documented than others. Not only that, but treatment is no longer complicated – in fact it’s simple and can be self-administered in an easy, inexpensive way – and without prescription.

All developed nations have now approved the stop snoring mouthpiece as the best way to tackle and prevent both heavy snoring, and mild to moderate OSA, but if Governments don’t act soon then the crisis will develop even more.

For a small cost you can protect yourself from all these problems. You now have to ask yourself what is the value of your good health, and maybe even your life. It’s time for you to do something about it – either for yourself, for your partner, or for both of you.