Lack of Sleep Increases Diabetes Risk

Study By Suzanne Rostler

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters Health) - A chronic lack of sleep may cause far more serious problems than a tendency to nod off the next day, researchers warn. Their study presented Monday at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting found that people who do not get enough sleep on a regular basis may become less sensitive to insulin which, over time, can raise the risk of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

In fact, chronic sleep deprivation--6.5 hours or less of sleep a night--had the same effect on insulin resistance as aging, Bryce A. Mander, a research assistant at the University of Chicago in Illinois, and a study author, told Reuters Health.

"Just like poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress and aging, sleep loss is a...risk factor (for type 2 diabetes),'' Mander said.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body loses its ability to respond to insulin, the body's key blood sugar-regulating hormone. This insulin resistance causes blood sugar levels to rise, which in turn can increase the risk for a number of serious medical complications including kidney damage, heart disease, blindness and lower limb amputations.

According to the study, led by Dr. Eve Van Cauter, of the University of Chicago, healthy adults who averaged 316 minutes of sleep a night--about 5.2 hours--over 8 consecutive nights secreted 50% more insulin than their more rested counterparts who averaged 477 minutes of sleep a night, or about 8 hours. As a result, "short sleepers'' were 40% less sensitive to insulin. The researchers suggest that sleep deprivation, which is becoming commonplace in industrialized countries, may play a role in the current epidemic of type 2 diabetes. Mander cited a poll by the National Sleep Foundation documenting a steady decline in the number of hours Americans sleep each night. In 1975, the average American slept 7.5 hours, down from 9 hours in 1910. Today, adults sleep about 7 hours a night, he said.

While the findings add to a growing body of research on the role of sleep on human health, further research will focus on the mechanism by which sleep affects glucose regulation and what affect longer sleep will have on short sleepers at risk for diabetes.

"Basically, one must lead a healthy life in all ways, have a good diet, exercise regularly, minimize stress if possible, but also sleep as much as you can,'' Mander said.