How Does Insomnia Impact Your Type 2 Diabetes Risk?

New research published in Diabetes Care has found(1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Assessing the Causal Role of Sleep Traits on Glycated Hemoglobin: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Go to source) that insomnia sleep disorder can be linked to increased type 2 diabetes risk. Still, the way insomnia impacts blood sugar levels is not always clear. Previously, insomnia and having a later bedtime have been linked to a greater risk of type 2 diabetes. The new research led by the University of Bristol, supported by the universities of Manchester, Exeter, and Harvard, and funded by Diabetes UK, assessed whether these associations happen due to the causal effects of sleep habits on blood sugar levels.

Researchers used five sleep qualities — insomnia, sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, napping, and morning or evening preference (chronotype) to assess the impact on average blood sugar levels by measuring the HbA1c levels (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Assessing the Causal Role of Sleep Traits on Glycated Hemoglobin: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Go to source) in the blood.

Using Mendelian Randomization, researchers were allowed to remove any bias from the results by assigning people randomly according to a genetic code at birth.

The study, including 336,999 adults living in the UK, revealed that people who reported that they often had difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep had higher blood sugar levels than people who said they never, rarely, or only sometimes had these difficulties. They also found out that there was no clear evidence for the effect of other sleep habits on blood sugar levels.

Alert for Night Owls!! Lack of Sleep (Insomnia) Can Increase Diabetes Risk

The findings gave an understanding that insufficient sleep can cause higher blood sugar levels and could play a direct role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Knowing this could open up new approaches to preventing diabetes (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The Impact of Poor Sleep on Type 2 Diabetes

Go to source).

James Liu, senior research associate in the Bristol Medical School (PHS) and MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU) and corresponding author on the paper, 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.”

Currently, there are few treatments for insomnia such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and short-term treatment of sleeping tablets or treatment with a hormone called melatonin if CBT does not work.

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However, it is recommended that seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sound sleep every night reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes and maximizes your body's full functioning (6^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Sex differences in sleep: impact of biological sex and sex steroids

Go to source).

Don’t forget that type 2 diabetes is a complex condition with multiple risk factors. Sleep is one of the first things to suffer when you're suffering from Insomnia. If you're not sleeping well, then managing blood sugar levels and staying on track with your diet can be a real challenge. If this sounds like you, you could be increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes. Besides good sleep, include a healthy diet and increase your physical activity for type 2 diabetes prevention.

Sleep and Sleep Disorder Statistics

• Humans spend about two hours per night dreaming(4^✔ ✔Trusted Source
  Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep
  
  Go to source).
• Hawaii has the highest percentage (43%) of adults who get seven hours of sleep per night(5^✔ ✔Trusted Source
  Insufficient sleep
  
  Go to source).
• Women have a lifetime risk of insomnia(6^✔ ✔Trusted Source
  Sex differences in sleep: impact of biological sex and sex steroids
  
  Go to source).
• In the United States around 57% of men and 40% of women snore(7^✔ ✔Trusted Source
  Snoring
  
  Go to source).

Researchers hope future studies should assess the impact of the insomnia treatments on glucose levels in people with and without diabetes to establish potential new treatments for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

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References:

1. Assessing the Causal Role of Sleep Traits on Glycated Hemoglobin: A Mendelian Randomization Study - (https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/45/4/772/144928/Assessing-the-Causal-Role-of-Sleep-Traits-on)
2. The Impact of Poor Sleep on Type 2 Diabetes - (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/professionals/diabetes-discoveries-practice/the-impact-of-poor-sleep-on-type-2-diabetes)
3. Insomnia could increase people’s risk of type 2 diabetes, study finds - (http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2022/april/insomnia-diabetes.html)
4. Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep - (https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/patient-caregiver-education/understanding-sleep)
5. Insufficient sleep - (https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/hawaii/2020/measure/factors/143/data)
6. Sex differences in sleep: impact of biological sex and sex steroids - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26833831/)
7. Snoring - (https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/sleep-and-wakefulness-disorders/snoring)

Source-Medindia