Inconsistent sleep at night could lead to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study shows.
American and British researchers used UK Biobank data to glean important insight into how sleeping patterns might impact one’s propensity for type 2 diabetes. Their findings recently appeared in Diabetes Care, a publication from the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body no longer correctly regulates and uses sugar as a fuel. This can lead to a person’s blood sugar rising to dangerously high levels, which, over time, can present a significant health risk. This incurable disease needs to be kept in check through diet, exercise, and medication.
Since type 2 diabetes is an acquired problem, older adults are most at risk. However, due to rising obesity rates, increasingly more children and young adults are being diagnosed with it.
Obesity has long been considered a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes. According to the ADA, carrying extra weight can also lead to blood pressure and cholesterol issues, which can usher in heart disease — the leading cause of death in the U.S.
At the same time, being overweight isn’t the only potential driver of type 2 diabetes, as the new study shows. Diving into the sleep data of over 84,421 individuals with a mean age of 62, researchers found that those who slept irregularly were 59% more likely to eventually develop diabetes than those who slept more consistently.
How much a person’s sleep duration varied each night also seemed to play an important role in his risk of developing diabetes. Essentially, the higher the variability, the higher the increased risk. For instance, a person who slept 91 minutes or more differently each night on average had a 59% increased risk for diabetes compared to those whose sleep durations varied by 30 minutes or less.
The difference in risk was explained as being due to the unstable circadian cycle, which can generate a reduced sensitivity to insulin over time.
Reacting to the study, Dr. Sudha Tallavajhula, a neurologist and sleep medicine physician at UTHealth Houston, stressed that sleep disorders can cause health issues by impacting hormone production.
“During sleep, the whole endocrine axis, that is the pathway that encompasses all hormonal function, undergoes a cyclical change,” Tallavajhula told Medical News Today. “Hormones that are not required during sleep, because of low activity, for example, insulin and steroids are usually reduced. Their levels rise in the mornings, to meet demand for activity. Impaired sleep contributes to poor utilization of glucose and fat.”