Posted on January 3, 2008 in Latest News
A study conducted at the University of Chicago Medical Center shows that lack of deep sleep in young adults significantly reduces their ability to maintain blood-sugar levels and develops the risk of type 2 diabetes. It reports that lack of deep sleep affects body’s ability to produce insulin and ability to metabolize glucose levels in the body.
The lead author of the study Esra Tasali, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center said that: “These findings demonstrate a clear role for slow-wave sleep (deep sleep) in maintaining normal glucose control. A profound decrease in slow-wave sleep had an immediate and significant adverse effect on insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance.”
The study used nine healthy and lean volunteers of 20 to 31 years old. The volunteers spent two nights in the sleep laboratory without any disturbance. They got sound sleep in these two nights. Then they spent three nights sleep where they were prevented to enter into the deep restorative sleep cycles.
Results of the study:
- The researchers found startling results after comparing the two stages of sleep of the volunteers on nights where they had sound sleep and the nights where their sleep was disturbed.
-
The study found more glucose intolerance, 25 percent less sensitive to insulin in volunteers who had disturbed sleep only for three days.
-
The volunteers had 23% increased glucose level in their blood after the three nights of disturbed sleep. To dispose the increased level of glucose, the volunteers needed more insulin but their insulin secretion did not go up to compensate for the reduced sensitivity. This resulted in reduced tolerance to glucose and increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
One of the senior author of the study Eve Van Cauter, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago said that: “Since reduced amounts of deep sleep are typical of aging and of common obesity-related sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea these results suggest that strategies to improve sleep quality, as well as quantity, may help to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in populations at risk.”
Comments
Leave a Reply
