Lack of Sleep Affects Health of Diabetics

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, September 22, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Diabetics may be able to improve their health just by getting a few extra zzz's.

New research from the University of Chicago finds black patients with type 2 diabetes who don't get enough sleep or get poor quality sleep are less able to control their blood sugar levels.

Researchers measured participants' glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) -- a standard measurement of blood sugar levels. A normal HbA1c level is between 4 percent and 6 percent. Higher levels mean the patient has poor control over their blood sugar.

Researchers found, on average, the 161 black patients in the study got very little sleep and had poor glucose control. The average length of sleep was six hours a night. Only 6 percent said they got eight hours of sleep on weeknights; 22 percent said they got at least seven hours. The median HbA1c score was high -- at 8.3 percent.

"We've known for some time that skimping on sleep can impair glucose tolerance even for healthy people," writes lead author Kristen Knutson, a University of Chicago researcher. "Now we have evidence connecting chronic partial sleep deprivation and reduced blood-sugar control in patients with diabetes."

Researchers report lack of sleep or poor quality sleep is closely associated with higher HbA1c scores. Patients with sleep problems and at least one complication of diabetes -- nerve pain, kidney damage or coronary artery disease -- are more likely to see their HbA1c go up.

Researchers report the trend of more people burning the candle at both ends may play a big role in the diabetes epidemic we now have. They conclude one way to slow down the epidemic may be to avoid building a chronic sleep debt.

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SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006;166:1768-1774