12 March 2006

Sleep-Talk Again

Before you get tired of my sleep posts, let me add one more post about sleep. This time, its about a recent study published in the March 2006 issue of Diabetes Care. It may not seem obvious to many, but this new study says that your sleep duration may be a risk factor for having Type 2 diabetes.
NEW YORK [Reuters, 10 Mar 2006] --- Research hints that not getting enough sleep each night, or getting too much sleep, may increase a person's risk of developing non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes, independent of other factors.

Men getting no more than 6 hours of sleep per night, as well as those getting more than 8 hours of shut eye per night, were at significantly increased risk for developing diabetes, compared to men getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

The risk of diabetes was roughly twofold higher in men reporting short sleep duration and more than threefold higher in those reporting long sleep duration, compared with men sleeping 7 to 8 hours nightly.


The magic numbers for ideal sleeping duration, according to the study, are 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. If you are an early riser like me who wakes up around 5 to 6am every morning, you must make sure you are already in bed sound asleep by 9 to 10 pm nightly.

I know this must be hard for those who always do overtime at the office, or those who are always fascinated by the lure of the nightlife --- enjoying booze and music --- but I also want you to know that having diabetes for life is no fun at all.

Make time for sleep.

5 reactions:

batjay said...

hmmm... intersting. what i noticed is that if i don't sleep enough, my blood pressure shoots up.

Cerridwen said...

I remember sleeping at the most 4 hours everyday for a good month then no sleep for 72 hours mwith maybe a stolen cat nap here and there and right after that I was diagnosed with hypertension.

rolly said...

I wonder what happened to my earlier comment. It's not here!

Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I don't think I am getting that much needed sleep. i am not a sleep person. i stay late at night and get up way too early in the morning. I have to. Everybody in the house relies on me to wake them up. Otherwise, we will always be late.

If I get to sleep early, say at 9, i will surely be up at around 1 and it will take a long time before I can sleep again. Worse, I may not wake up in time.

anyway, after having read this, I guess i have to make some serious adjustments. Thanks for this post.

Dr. Emer said...

BatJay: It must be fatigue.

Cerridwen: You must do something about that.

Bayi: I wish I can be asleep as early as 8pm! But that is wishful thinking. I make adjustments to meet the 7-8 hour requirement.

Tito Rolly: Maybe you need sleeping aids.

Moof said...

Wow! I frequently go to bed at midnight, and wake up at 4:30 AM ... for days running. I've been doing that sort of thing for a long, long time. I seldom get more than 6 hours in a 24 hour period.

Could it be that some people just don't need as much sleep?