Short sleepers at high risk of diabetes

The study, conducted by the researchers at the Warwick Medical School and the State University of New York at Buffalo, suggests that short sleepers are more prone to enter a pre-diabetic state, the incident-impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG).

People with IFG are unable to regulate body glucose efficiently, putting them at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Details of the study
For the purpose of the study, researchers analyzed clinical details of 1,455 volunteers, all of whom participated in the Western New York Health Study.

Aged between 35 and 79 years at baseline, all participants underwent a clinical examination that included measures of resting blood pressure, height, and weight.

Participants were also required to fill out questionnaires detailing their general health and sleeping patterns.

People who took less than six hours of shuteye each night were three times more likely to develop IFG, as against those who got a good night rest, researchers found.

"We found that short sleep, less than six hours, was associated with a significant, three-fold increased likelihood of developing IFG, compared to people who got an average of six to eight hours sleep a night," study’s lead author, Dr. Saverio Stranges, from Warwick Medical School, said.

Lack of sleep affects glucose metabolism
Hitherto studies have established a strong tie-up between short sleep intervals and elevated levels of both cortisol, body’s stress hormone, and ghrelin, hormone that stimulates appetite.

"Previous studies have shown that short sleep duration results in a 28 percent increase in mean levels of the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin so it can affect feeding behaviours," Dr. Stranges said.

"Other studies have also shown that a lack of sleep can decrease glucose tolerance and increases the production of cortisol, a hormone produced in response to stress," he added.

Joyous over the findings, Dr. Stranges said that the findings were in line with their earlier reports. He strongly claimed that "both sleep quantity and quality are strong predictors of the development of type 2 diabetes, strokes and heart attacks."

However, more research is required to establish the link further and to design a corrective action to counter the negatives, Dr. Stranges averred.

The findings of the study feature in the journal 'Annals of Epidemiology.'