United States: Irregular sleep linkage with growing type 2 diabetes risk is said to be reduced, with adjustments in obesity, comorbidities, and lifestyle factors.
However, scientists from Boston, MA, and Manchester, the UK, have also found that a 7.5-year follow-up study revealed a 59 percent chance of developing diabetes for those with the most variability in their sleeping pattern every night.
It is in comparison to those individuals with a most consistent sleeping pattern.
Inconsistent sleep increases the risk
To find out the link between irregular sleep and diabetes risk, the researchers utilized the data from the UK Biobank and analyzed the 84,421 participants for this study.
Medical News Today reported that they gathered data from the participants using an accelerometer, a device similar to a fitness watch that captures activity levels, for seven days between 2013 and 2015.
The participants’ average age was 62. The researchers also used the genetic data taken from the Biobank to calculate polygenic risk scores for diabetes using known genetic risk variants for the condition.
Findings of the research
The findings suggested that those participating, along with sleeping deviations between 31 and 45 minutes on average, had a 15 percent higher chance of increased diabetes risk than those with sleep duration deviated by 30 minutes or less.
Also, those with the most variability have a sleeping variation of 91 minutes or more, with an increased risk of 59 percent, after adjustment with age, sex, and race.
Sleep effects on hormones
The authors did not consider the underlying mechanisms underpinning the link discovered in the study. However, they also suggest introducing this not-so-stable circadian cycle, which can interfere with glucose metabolism and reduce insulin sensitivity.
According to Sudha Tallavajhula, MD, neurologist, and sleep medicine physician at UTHealth Houston, who was not involved in the research, “In both clinical and research goals, we see that sleep disorders change hormonal pathways. During sleep, the whole endocrine axis, that is the pathway that encompasses all hormonal function, undergoes a cyclical change. 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,” as Medical News Today reported.