Sleeping in at the weekend might reduce diabetes risk
Of course, everyone loves sleeping in, but new research shows that extended sleep at the weekend might reduce the risk of diabetes. Those extra hours in bed on a weekly holiday can now, finally, be guilt-free.
A recent study shows that catching up on lost sleep might be even more important than previously thought.
In the cut and thrust of modern life, it is not uncommon for people to scrimp on the amount of sleep they get. Missing a couple of hours each night from Monday to Friday, followed by a binge at the weekend is certainly not an unusual sleep pattern for many people. Catching up on sleep has become synonymous with the weekend, and, for many people, sleeping in is the most anticipated feature of a Saturday and Sunday morning.
A recent, short-term study, performed at the University of Chicago sleep laboratory, showed that grabbing a few extra hours of shut-eye is more than a relaxing treat, it has important implications for anyone who might be on the verge of diabetes. Diabetes is a major issue in the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 29.1 million Americans have the disease, which is almost 1 in 10. A medical problem of such huge scale requires research that delves into every conceivable facet. Diabetes is complex, so every potential avenue is being dissected in an attempt to curb its ever-onward march. One such angle of study is the effect of sleep on diabetes.
Perhaps not as obvious as diet and fitness, sleep seems to be a considerable factor in some cases of diabetes. A number of studies have investigated this intriguing area. A meta-analysis published in Diabetes Care in March 2015 found that a sleep duration of 7-8 hours gave the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas longer and shorter sleep durations were both associated with a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Another study, published in the same journal, found that diabetics who were poor sleepers had 23% higher blood glucose levels in the morning and 48% higher levels of insulin. In other words, diabetics who slept poorly had 82% higher insulin resistance than diabetics who got the correct amount of sleep.
Studies seem to suggest that a lack of sleep not only exacerbates existing diabetes in patients, but it also puts healthy people at risk of developing diabetes. The present study, led by Josiane Broussard, altered the sleeping schedules of 19 healthy male volunteers. For the first session, the group was allowed to sleep for 8.5 hours a night for 4 nights. During the second session, the members of the group were only allowed to sleep for 4.5 hours per night for 4 nights.
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