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Getting just a few hours of sleep a day can do more harm than just grogginess at the office all day, and could put you at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, new research shows. It turned out that.
The study found that compared to people who slept seven to eight hours a day, people who slept less than six hours a day had a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. The study was published on Tuesday Published in JAMA Network Open magazine.
“Previous research has shown that (inadequate daily rest) “The risk of type 2 diabetes is increased, but healthy eating habits such as eating fruits and vegetables regularly can reduce the risk,” said the study’s lead author, a professor of pharmaceutical biology at Uppsala University in Sweden. says Dr. Diana Noga, a sleep researcher in the Faculty of Science. , Said in a news release.
“However, it remains unclear whether eating a healthy diet can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people who sleep too little,” Noga added. The authors believe they are the first researchers to try to answer that question.
The results of this study were obtained from a large group of participants, approximately 247,900 people who participated in the study. UK biobank researchThe study tracked the health of more than 500,000 people aged 40 to 69 in the UK for at least 10 years. First, participants filled out a questionnaire about their eating habits and how much sleep they got every 24 hours, including naps.
Healthy eating criteria included eating two or more pieces of fruit each day, two or more servings of fish per week, or four or more tablespoons of vegetables per day.
The criteria included eating no more than two servings of unprocessed red meat and processed red meat per week. This means that a person who has eaten one serving of both unprocessed red meat and one serving of processed red meat within a week may still be considered to have the following symptoms: healthy diet. Each healthy eating behavior was worth 1 point, and scores ranged from 0 (unhealthiest) to 5 (healthiest).
Seven to eight hours of sleep each day was defined as normal sleep time, six hours as short sleep time, five hours as moderate sleep time, and three to four hours as “extreme short sleep time.”
By the end of the mean follow-up period of 12.5 years, 7,905 participants had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The authors found that people who got less than six hours of sleep each day were almost twice as likely to develop the disease compared to people who got a normal amount of sleep. There was no significant difference between those who slept normal and those who slept for 6 hours when it came to the risk of type 2 diabetes. And even among people with the healthiest diets, diet did not offset the effect of sleep deprivation on diabetes risk.
“This is another study showing that while genetics plays a role in the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, lifestyle factors are also very important,” said CNN Wellness contributor and emergency physician said Dr. Liana Wen, professor of health policy and management. A professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health said in an email. Wen was not involved in this research.
“However, people often consider lifestyle factors such as dietary intake and exercise habits,” Wen added. This study supports the importance of sleep for preventing chronic disease.
Sleep and diabetes risk
Dr. Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said the study’s design was to confirm the link between sleep deprivation and diabetes, rather than a cause-and-effect relationship. said to mean. , on mail.
The findings were also based on participants’ recollections of their eating and sleeping habits, according to the study. To see a causal relationship, you could do a random study to see if “intervening in sleep habits to increase sleep time reduces the risk of diabetes in people who are at risk for diabetes, such as people with prediabetes.” A chemical test will be required,” Sattar added.
However, Sattar added, “There is ample evidence that short sleep duration affects appetite regulation, possibly leading to an over-intake of denser calories in nature.”
According to Wen, sleep is also linked to the function of glucose metabolism, which may play a role. Type 2 diabetes.
Getting enough rest can be difficult, but adjusting your nighttime routine can help, starting with consistent sleep and wake times and establishing a dark, cool, quiet environment. Relaxing rituals, like reading a book instead of scrolling through social media or taking a warm bath or shower, can help your brain get into the right headspace for sleep.
Also, avoid consuming caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime or consuming alcohol before bedtime. While it may help you fall asleep, it can prevent you from falling into deep sleep throughout the night.