June 6, 2005 – Regularly lacking sleep or, conversely, sleeping too much, would be associated with an increased risk of suffering from diabetes or glucose intolerance, at least in middle-aged adults and the elderly.
This is the discovery made by researchers at Boston University in the United States. They conducted an investigation1 among 1,486 people aged 53 to 93. Their goal was to establish whether there is a link between sleep patterns and problems with glucose regulation.
They found that the risk of diabetes was 2.5 times higher in subjects who slept an average of five hours or less per night than in those who slept seven or eight hours. In long sleepers (nights of nine hours or more), the risk was 1.8 times higher. In these two categories of sleepers, there was also a slightly higher risk of glucose intolerance. The researchers had previously corrected the data using various statistical tools to neutralize the impact of other factors that can contribute to diabetes, such as age, ethnicity, waist circumference and mass index. bodily.
Currently, the association between diabetes and too little or too much sleep remains unclear. “We do not yet know the biological reality underlying this link, but these results are not surprising,” says Dr Angelo Tremblay, researcher in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at Laval University in Quebec. “In addition, other studies suggest that a lack of sleep disrupts certain hormones responsible for appetite, which could contribute to a greater desire to eat, and perhaps to obesity,” he points out. -he.
Note in passing that a good night’s sleep does not necessarily last seven or eight hours for everyone, according to Julie Carrier, researcher at the Center for the Study of Sleep and Biological Rhythms in Montreal. Sleep duration depends on a host of factors, some of which may be genetic. According to the researcher, quality sleep, that is to say continuous sleep not punctuated by awakenings, also remains very important. Over the years, sleep becomes more fragile and shorter, and we do not really know the impact of this phenomenon on health, she adds.
Marie-Michèle Mantha – PasseportSanté.net
Version revised June 8, 2005
According to HealthDay News.
1. Gottlieb DJ, Punjabi NM, Newman AB, et al. Association of sleep time with diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance. Arch Intern Med. 2005 Apr 25; 165 (8): 863-7.
