A study conducted at New England Research Institutes in collaboration with Yale School of Medicine states that men who sleep too much or too little are at an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The data on the study as published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.

According to the study's lead author, H. Klar Yaggi, M.D.(Professor in Yale's Department of Internal Medicine, pulmonary section), six to eight hours of sleep was found to be most healthy. On the other hand, men who reported they slept between five and six hours per night were twice as likely to develop diabetes and men who slept more than eight hours per night were three times as likely to develop diabetes. The elevated risks remained ever after adjustment for age, hypertension, smoking status, self-rated health status and education factors.

Researchers warned however that the mechanisms in which long sleep duration increase diabetes risk still needs more investigation. But the hormonal and metabolic implications of too little sleep are starting to be understood.

Among the documented effects, Yaggi said, are striking alterations in metabolic and endocrine function including decreased carbohydrate tolerance, insulin resistance, and lower levels of the hormone leptin leading to obesity.

"There is a lot of interest in determining whether sleep disturbances such as a reduced amount of sleep or disorders like sleep apnea may actually worsen the metabolic syndrome," said Yaggi. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors including high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol and insulin resistance which increase the risk for heart disease and stroke.

Source: [EurekAlert]