As the holiday season approaches, researchers at the University of South Australia are reminding people to prioritize getting a good night’s sleep as new research shows disturbed sleep can be associated risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
In the first study of its kind, researchers found that people who reported having sleep problems were on average more likely to have indicators of poor cardiometabolic health – inflammatory markers, cholesterol and body weight – which may contribute to diabetes. kind 2.
In Australia, nearly one million adults have type 2 diabetes. Worldwide, type 2 diabetes affects more than 422 million people.
UniSA researcher Dr Lisa Matricciani says different aspects of sleep are associated with risk factors for diabetes.
Everyone knows that sleep is important. But when we think about sleep, we mostly focus on how many hours of sleep we get, when we should also consider our sleep experience as a whole.
The quality of our sleep, the time we go to bed and get up, and the regularity of our sleep patterns can be just as important as the duration of sleep.
In this study, we looked at the association of different aspects of sleep, and risk factors for diabetes, and found a link between those who had troubled sleep and those who were at risk for type 2 diabetes.”
Dr Lisa Matricciani, Researcher, UniSA
The study looked at more than 1,000 Australian adults whose median age was 44.8 years. The researchers looked at a range of sleep characteristics: self-reported sleep disturbance, duration, timing, efficiency, and day-to-day variability in sleep duration.
“People who reported having trouble sleeping were also more likely to have higher body mass index, as well as blood markers of cholesterol and inflammation,” says Dr. Matricciani.
“We know we need to prioritize our sleep to stay healthy. More research is needed, but as this study shows, it’s important to think about sleep as a whole, not just one aspect. »
Source :
University of South Australia
Journal reference:
Matricciani, L., et al. (2022) Multidimensional sleep and cardiometabolic risk factors for type 2 diabetes: A review of self-report and objective dimensions of sleep. The science of diabetes self-management and treatment. doi.org/10.1177/26350106221137896.