People who sleep less than six hours at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, study warns
PEOPLE who sleep less than six hours a night could be at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, experts have warned.
Type 2 diabetes is a common condition that causes the level of sugar in your blood to become too high.
It's often linked to a family history of the condition, weight and inactivity.
But experts say those who suffer with insomnia could also develop the condition.
Researches at Bristol University have discovered that those who struggle to snooze had higher blood sugar levels.
Experts have previously found links between diabetes and sleep.
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A 2018 paper previously found that losing just one night's sleep would increase your risk of diabetes .
The experts in compared high blood sugar levels with the frequency of insomnia symptoms.
Participants were asked if they had trouble sleeping or if they woke up in the middle of the night.
They were asked to rate the responses with 'usually', 'sometimes', 'rarely', or 'never'.
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They were also asked how long they slept each night in hours.
A short sleep-duration was classed as less that six hours compared to those who slept between seven and eight hours.
A long sleep-duration was classed as more than nine hours.
Each person was also asked to log how often they felt day-time sleepiness and if they were a morning person or a night owl.
There were 336,999 participants with 54 per cent being female, with a mean age of 56.9 years old.
They found that the 28 per cent people who were surveyed had insomnia.
The study, published in Diabetes Care, said that treating insomnia could trigger a drop in blood sugar levels.
Senior researcher, James Liu said: "We estimated that an effective insomnia treatment could result in more glucose lowering than an equivalent intervention, which reduces body weight by 14kg in a person of average height.
"This means around 27,300 UK adults, aged between 40- and 70-years-old, with frequent insomnia symptoms would be free from having diabetes if their insomnia was treated.”
The 15-minute rule that can help insomniacs nod off
If you suffer from bouts of insomnia, you can send yourself off to dreamland in no time with a "fifteen-minute rule
The advice comes following the results of a comprehensive study from the University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, and the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute.
Dr Bryony Sheaves and Professor Colin Espie wrote a guide for the findings.
"To promote your bed-sleep connection, follow the quarter-of-an-hour rule.
"If you notice that you aren’t asleep within around 15 minutes of going to bed, try getting out of bed," the experts advised.
What you do with that 15 minutes is up to you.
You can go to another room, distract yourself with a book, or go through your wind-down routine until you are feeling sleepy again.
Just don't spend time on your phone or the computer, as the blue light exposure can make it harder for you to fall asleep.
"There’s no need to clock-watch," the study authors wrote. "Just estimate quarter-of-an-hour."
After that, you should be able to fall asleep with ease – keep your eyes off the clock when you get back to bed.
Even when you've had difficulty falling asleep, make sure to get up on time the next day instead of sleeping in.
Treating insomnia can be difficult and those who have it are first advised to try different tips and tricks.
This can include going to bed at the same time each night and waking up at the same time each morning.
Other treatments include sleeping tablets, hormone therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Experts at Diabetes UK said the new paper gives important insights into sleep and type 2 diabetes.
Dr Faye Riley is Research Communications Manager at said the paper suggests that insufficient sleep can cause higher blood sugars levels and could play a direct role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
She explained: "Knowing this could open up new approaches to help prevent or manage the condition.
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“However, it’s important to remember that type 2 diabetes is a complex condition, with multiple risk factors.
"Eating a healthy balanced diet, being active, along with getting enough sleep, are all essential components of good health for everyone – including those at risk of, or living with, type 2 diabetes.”
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