Evidence linking poor sleep to diabetes continues to mount. The latest research from the University of Newcastle shows that too little sleep is associated with a significant increase in risk of type 2 diabetes. According to a summary in diabetes.co.uk, the research process was a meta-study reviewing results from a number of different qualifying studies.
More than 200,000 adults over the age of 45 years were reviewed.Most participants (64.7%) reported normal sleep times of 7 or 8 hours. Participants that had 6 hours sleep or less experienced a 30% greater risk of developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The study also showed that having either significantly shorter (under 7 hours) or longer (over 10 hours) sleep times was associated with higher rates of obesity.
Researchers took the time to switch around the numbers and check for negative effects of longer sleep times. “The researchers noted with interest that whilst shorter sleep times were associated with greater type 2 diabetes risk, longer sleep times were not,” writes a reporter from diabetest.co.uk. “Also of note was that sleep duration was not related to risk of cardiovascular disease.”
The results are statistically significant (212,388 participants to be exact) and the researchers view the results as appearing to be clinically important. In terms of limitations of the study, researchers were unable to ascertain how much short sleep duration may have been related to presence of a sleep disorder.
Source: Diabetes.co.uk
