2. According to its senior author, Femke Rutters
of the VU Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the
average self-reported sleep duration for
individuals has fallen by 1.5 to 2 hours during
the last 50 years, while diabetes rates have
doubled in the same time frame.
"In men, sleeping too much or too little was
related to less responsiveness of the cells in
the body to insulin, reducing glucose uptake
and thus increasing the risk of developing
diabetes in the future. In women, no such
association was observed.“
3. To reach their conclusions the researchers
studied 788 people enrolled in a European
study
participants were healthy, aged between 30
and 60 and drawn from 14 European
countries
Sleep and physical activity was measured
using a movement-tracker device
The study found that men who slept the least
and the most were likely to have an impaired
ability to process sugar when compared to
men who slept for the average of 7 hours
4. However, women who slept less or more than
average were more responsive to the
hormone insulin than those who got 7 hours.
The study found that they also had enhanced
function of beta cells - the cells in the
pancreas that produce the hormone insulin.
It also suggests that lost sleep may not put
women at increased risk of developing
diabetes.
5. The researchers say a number of factors
could be behind the differences between
men and women
men are more frequently affected by sleep
apnoea, which reduces sleep quantity and
quality
women have more slow-wave sleep which is
known to be more 'restorative'.
6. Dr Elizabeth Robertson , director of research
at Diabetes UK, says: “Many studies have
now highlighted a potential link between
abnormal sleep patterns and a higher risk of
type 2 diabetes, but we have yet to establish
why. This research suggests that it’s because
too much or too little sleep affects the
body's ability to respond to the levels of
glucose in the blood, and the researchers
found that this was specific to men”
7. "Due to the nature of the study, further work
is needed to confirm these findings, and
understand why the differences in sleep
didn’t appear to affect women. Importantly,
we know that the risk of type 2 diabetes can
be reduced by maintaining a healthy weight,
through taking regular exercise and eating a
healthy balanced diet."
8. SOURCES:
The Association Between Sleep Duration,
Insulin Sensitivity, and B-Cell Function: The
EGIR-RISC Study, F Rutters et al, Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Press release, The Endocrine Society
Diabetes UK
