Clinical Nutrition

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is the repetitive obstruction of the upper airways during sleep resulting in the cessation of breathing, profound compensatory cardiovascular reactions and repetitive cerebral arousals from sleep. SDB is a highly prevalent condition with an elevated risk for serious cardiovascular diseases (including hypertension, ischemic heart disease, fatal cardiac arrhythmias), stroke, insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obesity and sudden death, and loss of alertness and serious daytime sleepiness and fatigue. Treating SDB has shown to improve the clinical outcomes and functionality. In this presentation, we will defi ne sleep-disordered breathing, discuss the relationship between obesity and SDB, including the clinical evidence and the mechanisms of each, discuss the relationship between type-2 diabetes and SDB, including clinical evidence and the mechanisms of each, discuss the relationship between cardiovascular disease and SDB, including clinical evidence and the mechanisms of each, identify patients who have SDB through simple screening and identify the diff erent treatment options.