According to a study conducted by the University of Chicago Medical Center, and released in late December, 2007 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a lack of deep sleep, even for a small number of days, can have a far-ranging effect on the likelihood of a young adult developing Type 2 Diabetes.
Sleep interruptions and not falling into a deep sleep for only 3 consecutive nights, according to the study, can produce in 20-year-olds the same glucose and insulin metabolisms of people three times their ages, and have the same negative effect as gaining 20 or 30 pounds.
While earlier studies has shown a relationship between a lack of sleep and affects suffered in the body's ability to manage blood sugar levels and appetite, which increases the risk of obesity and diabetes, but this study is the first to link poor sleep quality, in particular the loss of deep, or "slow-wave" sleep, to the increased risk of diabetes.
The research team from the University of Chicago have interpreted their findings as demonstrating a necessary role for slow-wave sleep in maintaining normal glucose control, and, as indicated in a statement from lead author Dr. Esra Tasali, assistant professor of medicine, "A profound decrease in slow-wave sleep had an immediate and significant adverse effect on insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance."
The findings suggests, according to the researchers, that improving the quality of sleep, especially for people as they age or if they are obese, could be an important step in type 2 diabetes prevention.
Interestingly enough, on the same day, a study from Israel's Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva was released, in which the researches found evidence that In people with type 2 diabetes who had previously abstained from alcohol, the drinking of a glass of wine with dinner on a regular basis lowered their fasting blood sugar levels. Also interesting was the fact that the study showed that their post-meal blood sugar levels were unaffected.
Dr. Iris Shai, who headed the study, stressed that more than the allotted amount of wine could be dangerous, and that the extra calories contained in the wine had to be balance by reducing intake of other carbohydrates.
So, it would seem that not enough sleep is a dangerous lifestyle trait as far as diabetes is concerned, but that the medicinal qualities of wine, at least as far as diabetes is concerned, have again been shown to be something to consider.
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