insulin sensitivity, the body's ability to clear glucose
(blood sugar) from the bloodstream, significantly improved after three nights
of "catch-up sleep" on the weekend in men with long-term, weekday
sleep restrictions.
Reducing the incidence of this chronic illness is
critical for a nation where diabetes affects nearly 26 million people and costs
an estimated $174 billion annually."
The body of a patient with Type 2 diabetes cannot
effectively use the insulin it produces, or it becomes "resistant" to
insulin. Retaining the body's sensitivity to insulin reduces the risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes, a chronic illness that is the seventh leading cause
of death in the U.S.
Liu and researchers
from the University of Sydney in Australia studied 19 non-diabetic men, with an
average age of 28.6 years, who for six months or longer (average, 5.1 years)
self-reported inadequate sleep during the workweek. On average, the men
received only 6.2 hours of sleep each work night. But they regularly caught up
on their sleep on the weekends, sleeping an extra 37.4 percent, or 2.3 hours,
per night, the authors reported. Their reported sleep times were verified by
actigraphy, in which each man wore a small device on his wrist that monitored
sleep-wake cycles.
The men
spent three nights in a sleep lab on each of two separate weekends. The
researchers randomly assigned the men to two of three sleep conditions: (1) 10
hours of sleep, (2) six hours of sleep or (3) 10 hours in bed, in which noises
during deep sleep aroused them into shallow sleep without waking them. The six
hours of sleep tested persistent sleep restriction.
On the
fourth morning, the research staff drew the men's blood to measure their blood
sugar and insulin levels to calculate insulin sensitivity. Each individual had
the same food intake during the study visits, so that diet would not influence
the results, Liu said.
When the
men slept 10 hours a night on each of three nights of catch-up sleep, their
insulin sensitivity was much better than when they had persistent sleep
restriction, the scientists found. Their insulin resistance test score also
improved (decreased) with sleep extension.
Come on guys! Getting a good nights sleep should be the easiest and most enjoyable thing ever, not to mention it will improve your insulin sensitivity :O!
