Blood sugar adversely influenced by inappropriate sleep in diabetes patients, finds study

Blood sugar levels are adversely affected by inappropriate sleep in diabetes and Prediabetes, finds a new study.

Good quality and adequate sleep are paramount for maintaining good physical and mental health. Inappropriate Sleep duration may adversely influence blood sugar levels in Type 2 diabetes and prediabetic patients revealed a study published in the Journal, Diabetes Care.

The research noted that both lengthy and short hours of sleep are associated with adverse measures of glycemia or blood sugar levels in the body. A shorter sleep is associated with obesity.

Sleep disturbances and circadian misalignment (social jet lag, late chronotype, or shift work) have been associated with worse blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether these findings apply to adults with prediabetes is yet unexplored.

Babak Mokhlesi, M.D., from the University of Chicago, and colleagues hypothesized that self-reported short sleep, poor sleep quality, and/or circadian misalignment are associated with high blood sugar, BMI, and blood pressure (BP) in adults with prediabetes or recently diagnosed, untreated T2D.

The team conducted a cohort study which included 962 overweight/obese adults ages 20–65 years with prediabetes or recently diagnosed, untreated T2D who completed a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test and validated sleep questionnaires. Independent associations of sleep and circadian variables with glycemia, BMI, and BP were evaluated with regression models.

• Mean sleep duration was 6.6 ± 1.3 h.


• Poor sleep quality was reported by 54% and high risk for obstructive sleep apnea by 64%. HbA_1c was significantly higher in those reporting <5 or >8 h sleep per night.


• Sleep duration >8 h was also associated with higher fasting blood sugar and <6 h with higher BMI.


• Shift work was also associated with higher BMI. Social jet lag and delayed chronotype were associated with higher BP.

"In this cohort, self-reported short and long sleep were both associated with adverse measures of blood sugar, and short sleep and shift work were associated with higher BMI. Further research using objective measures of sleep is needed to better delineate the relationship between sleep and blood sugar levels in adults with prediabetes or T2D." concluded the authors.

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