We all know sleep is important. Without it, we lose focus, become agitated more easily, and our body’s systems don’t function as they should. When you are living with type 2 diabetes, your body’s functions become more important than ever. Getting enough sleep is an important part of taking care of health and controlling diabetes.
Diabetes management is multifaceted and requires lifestyle changes in many ways. One of these ways is the management of the sleep cycle. The sleep and wake cycle is regulated by the brain’s circadian clock, or the circadian rhythm of the body. This clock regulates eating, sleeping, temperature, hormone production, and the maintenance of insulin and glucose levels in the body. When this clock is off, due to lack of sleep or hormonal imbalances, normal body processes can be disrupted. As you can see, whether lack of sleep is due to glucose and insulin imbalances, or the other way around, both can significantly affect health, especially for those with diabetes.
A link has been found between getting less sleep and weighing more than average. Those who are overweight also show a tendency to suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder causing loud snoring and interrupted breathing while asleep. People who are both overweight and get less sleep have a higher chance of suffering from diabetes. If you already have diabetes, the risk factors of being overweight and not getting enough sleep can result in aggravating the disease. Symptoms of diabetes get worse when those with the disease sleep less than 6, or more than 9, hours per night, according to an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
However, as has been experienced by many with diabetes, insomnia can be a regular issue. A study published in Endocrine Abstracts in 2016 found that insomnia is common for those suffering from type 2 diabetes. The worst of it is that this a lack of sleep is connected to disruptions of blood glucose level, daytime sleepiness, and worsened body functioning that only get worse when paired with obesity-related sleep apnea. A study by the University of Chicago confirms these findings, even saying that those with diabetes who don’t sleep well have a harder time managing the disease, giving them a higher chance of complications, lower quality of life and even a lower life expectancy.
The good news is this: finding a way to get better sleep can be as good for your health as using diabetes drugs. According to Eve Van Cauter, PhD and author of the University of Chicago study, “This suggests that improving sleep quality in diabetics would have a similar beneficial effect as the most commonly used anti-diabetes drugs.” With that kind of motivation, the next thing to do is start counting sheep.
[expand title=”References“]
Gottlieb DJ, Punjabi NM, Newman AB, Resnick HE, Redline S, Baldwin CM, Nieto FJ. Association of Sleep Time With Diabetes Mellitus and Impaired Glucose Tolerance.Arch Intern Med.2005;165(8):863-867. doi:10.1001/archinte.165.8.863
Chasens, E. R., Burke, L. E., Baniak, L. M., Sereika, S. M., Atwood, C., Strollo, P. J., & Korytkowski, M. (2016). Insomnia in adults with Type 2 diabetes: Baseline data from the Diabetes Sleep Treatment Trial.
Spiegel, K., Knutson, K., Leproult, R., Tasali, E., & Van Cauter, E. (2005). Sleep loss: a novel risk factor for insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. Journal of applied physiology, 99(5), 2008-2019.
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