Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disease in which patients' sleep is disturbed by repetitive airway blockages that cause breathing pauses. These breaks disrupt sleep, and patients often suffer from increased daytime fatigue, impaired memory, and irritation. In addition, untreated OSA increased the risk of, among other things, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart failure and irregular heartbeat.
If you have type 2 diabetes or are severely overweight, you are at high risk of suffering from OSA at the same time. In Denmark, up to 1/3 of all type 2 diabetes patients have OSA at the same time. There are good studies and effective treatment against OSA, but neither investigation nor treatment is available in Greenland. Since it has not been possible to investigate the disease, it is not known how frequent it is. However, due to the high incidence of type 2 diabetes and overweight, sleep apnea is expected to be a frequent but unknown problem.
With a new project, we will find the prevalence of OSA among patients with type 2 diabetes and overweight. This should be done with newly developed equipment that makes investigation significantly easier for both patient and therapist. In addition, we will examine what other sequelae these patients also have. At the same time, the project will work to introduce the primary form of treatment in Greenland – the so-called CPAP apparatus. The start-up and control of CPAP must take place both through conventional and telemedicine methods that take advantage of recent technological developments.
The project started in the summer of 2022 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. For questions, please contact Mads Mose Jensen.
If you want to know more about the disease, you can read more here (In Danish) or on the Danish Patient Association's website here (in Danish).