Sleep deprivation & diabetes - Shorts

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Dec, 2002  by Jule Klotter

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A 1999 study by researchers at the University of Chicago found that sleep deprivation inhibits the body's ability to process glucose [Spiegel K; Leproult, R; Van Cauter, E; Impact of Sleep Debt on Metabolic and Endocrine Function, The Lancet. Vol. 354, October 23, 1999]. The University of Chicago researchers found that, by restricting sleep to four hours a night for one week, they could create a pre-diabetic condition in their healthy male subjects (ages 18-27). Blood and saliva samples from the men "showed a significant loss in their ability to process glucose." An article on the Sleep Foundation website called "Why Sleep Matters" (www.sleepfoundation.org) points out that the body secretes many hormones during sleep. Leptin, a hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism and appetite, and the growth hormone are among them. Adequate sleep is also vital for a healthy immune system.

The Sleep Foundation article mentions a second study by some of the same researchers, published in the JAMA (August 16, 2000). In this study, the researchers found that a lack of deep sleep, at a younger age (when men, especially, secrete much of their growth hormones) may result in lower growth hormone levels later in life. Growth hormone regulates growth during childhood and muscle mass in adults. According to the Sleep Foundation, "having less of the hormone as men age increases the propensity for becoming overweight and having a middle age paunch.

Although sleep patterns may change as adults age, the need for 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day does not. In her article "Sleepless Society," Susan Brink says, "It's easy to tell if you're sleepdeprived. If you can lie down in the middle of the day and fall alseep within 10 minutes, you have short-changed yourself on sleep the night before." Some people choose to sleep less than the eight-hour average, viewing sleep as a waste of time when so many projects and responsibilities call. For others, sleep deprivation results from insomnia. Caffeine, alcohol, violent or troubling television or reading before bed, exercise late in the day, and bright lights, can all prevent sleep. Susan Brink suggests "warm milk, meditative thoughts, snug comfort, dim lights, and an unvaried routine" to encourage sleep. She also says that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in 1999, that 0.3 mg of melatonin was more effective for helping elderly subjects sleep tha n the 3.0 mg dose typically sold.

Backgrounder: Why Sleep Matters. www.sleepfoundation.org

Brink, Susan. Sleepless Society. 2000 October 16; www.usnews.com

COPYRIGHT 2002 The Townsend Letter Group
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