"What our research tells us is that SDB is characterized by multiple physiological deficits that increase the predisposition for type 2 diabetes mellitus," study leader Dr. "We hypothesize that severe obesity, per se, acts as a first hit in the progression of liver disease, inducing hepatic steatosis, whereas the presence of the chronic intermittent hypoxemia that often. Another Hopkins study found that obese people with chronic intermittent hypoxia, the lack of oxygen that occurs during obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sho liver issues in proportion to the severity of the sleep disorder. A Granny Hopkins University study found a strong tie between insulin resistance -- the body's inability to metabolize glucose -- and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), pauses or other abnormalities in breathing while sleeping. Naresh Punjabi, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in an American Thoracic Society news release. -- Three conditions often linked to obesity have also been tied independently to sleep apnea, new studies show.

Insulin resistance, the progression of liver disease, and living a less-than-active life were all found to be associated with the com breathing disorder, regardless of people's weight, according to reports published in the February issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.