06/29/06

ResMed Corp, San Diego, is progressing in its efforts to increase awareness and recognition of the relationship between sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes with a new initiative aimed at educating health care professionals about the relationship between the two disorders. As part of this initiative, ResMed will be driving the education of certified nurse educators by attending the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) Annual Meeting, which will take place August 9-12, 2006. At the meeting, ResMed will be working to inform health care professionals on the relationship between diabetes and sleep apnea, and the potentially serious health risks associated with untreated sleep apnea in diabetes patients.

The company is sponsoring an Industry Theatre including a presentation for hundreds of diabetes educators, which will cover an overview of sleep apnea, how to identify symptoms and screen patients, as well as successful management techniques of sleep apnea therapy.

“More than 50% of male diabetes patients and 20% of female diabetes patients have sleep apnea, yet a startling number remain undiagnosed and untreated in practice. As awareness increases about the benefits of CPAP treatment for diabetes patients with sleep apnea, there is a tremendous opportunity for diabetes specialists to improve their patients’ treatment outcomes and overall quality of life,” said Michael Farrell, vice president of marketing, ResMed. “We look forward to meeting educators at the exhibition booth at AADE and discussing practical ways for diabetes educators to work with sleep centers to reduce their patients’ health risk by screening and treating sleep apnea.”