Having Trouble Sleeping? You May Be At Risk For Type 2 Diabetes

Having a good night’s sleep is as important as eating a balanced diet and doing regular exercise to stay fit and keep diseases away. Lack of sleep or poor-quality sleep can contribute to increasing the risk of many health problems. If you have trouble sleeping at night, you may be risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

A study by University of South Australia (UniSA) has found sleep problem associated with risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Study participants who reported trouble sleeping were more likely to have indicators of poor cardiometabolic health such as inflammatory markers, cholesterol and body weight, all of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, affecting more than 422 million people worlwide. According to the study report, nearly one million adults in Australia have type 2 diabetes. In people with Type 2 diabetes, their body doesn’t use insulin properly, leading to high blood sugar levels.

Sleep and diabetes: Understand the connection

It not just how many hours of sleep we get that is important, but how soundly we sleep, and how regular our sleep habits are equally significant.

UniSA researchers examined the association of different aspects of sleep such as trouble sleeping, duration, timing, efficiency, and day-to-day sleep length variability and risk factors for diabetes. The study included more than 1000 adults with a median age of 44.8 years.

They found a connection between people who reported having trouble sleeping and those who were at risk of type 2 diabetes. Adults who had troubled sleep were more likely to have a higher body mass index, blood markers of cholesterol and inflammation.

Several studies have identified high BMI as a strong and independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Having diabetes or high glucose levels can also increase your LDL “bad” cholesterol levels.

Health problems associated with poor sleep

If research findings are to be believed, sleep issues are more common in men than in women. Poor sleep among men is thought to contribute to the manifestation of a variety of problems, including erectile dysfunction, Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS), and infertility.

Over time, poor sleep may also increase your risk of developing a mood disorder, such as anxiety or depression. Chronic sleep deprivation is also understood to increase risk of numerous heart problems like high blood pressure (hypertension), atherosclerosis, and heart attack.

Tips to get a good night’s sleep

Here are some simple lifestyle changes that you need to adopt to get a good night’s sleep.

• Set a sleep schedule and stick to it
• Make sure exercise regularly or do some sort of physical activity daily
• If you have a habit of taking daytime naps, stop it or try to limit the nap hour
• Avoid use of mobile phone, laptop or other gadgets right before sleep
• No alcohol before bed and limit alcohol consumption in general
• Never go to sleep hungry – Home