New Delhi (PTI): Sleep apnea remains a latent danger to obese patients suffering from type 2 diabetes as the disorder is difficult to diagnose in such patients making them vulnerable to complications arising from it, says a latest study announced on Thursday.

Researchers at the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University Philadelphia, United States found that that sleep apnea remained a hidden disorder in 87 per cent of obese diabetics making them prone to increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

"The high prevalence of undiagnosed, and therefore, untreated sleep apnea among obese patients with diabetes constitutes a serious public health problem," said Gary Foster, Lead author of the study said in a statement.

"We examined 306 obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

86.6 percent of participants had sleep apnea, yet reported never being diagnosed," he said.

Sleep apnea is a condition often associated with obesity in which patients have disturbed sleep.

More than 30 per cent of these stopped breathing for 16 and 20 times each hour whereas 22 per cent had more than 30 episodes per hour, considered severe sleep apnea, the results published in the journal Diabetes Care suggest.

"Doctors having such patients need to be aware of the possibility of sleep apnea, even if no symptoms are present," said Foster.