Research or Money Hunting?

In this mornings news I came upon an article written by Fox contributor Maranda Hitti, that reports on a new release from the Columbia School of Medicine. The article states the hypothesis postulated by Columbia Medical School professor, Harvey Hilton M.D., that claims "lack of sleep causes High Blood Pressure, Obesity, Diabetes, Depression, Heart Attack and Stroke.
The first thing that screams out to me is the stretch used to link Diabetes to sleep deprivation. Diabetes is an organic disease caused by malfunction of the pancreas, altering the amount of insulin released into the blood stream. How sleep deprivation can effect this organ is a mystery to me.
But the most glaring factual problem, not included in the research reported by Ms. Hitti, is the relation between "sleep apnea" and the above enumerated causes of serious illness and death. Recently a beloved warrior on the football field died of complications caused by sleep apnea. Reggie White died because his sleep apnea caused him to stop breathing for long periods of time while he was still sleeping. Thus depriving his heart and brain of vital life supporting oxygen.
I have no argument with Dr. Holtons' claim that lack of sleep are detrimental to ones health, but it is possible that his claims are just another "Ivory Tower" residents attempt to garner more tax payers money for the Columbia University Medical School research Department and himself. Nothing works better than an article that scares the public,even if it has a few questionable "facts".