A new study has recently revealed that sleeping well every night can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. In this study, researchers observed people’s sleep patterns for a week and then tracked them for over seven years.
This research was recently published in Diabetes Care. In this study, researchers involved 84000 people in the UK. They collected data on their sleep patterns and overall health. The people who participated were aged around 64 and did not have diabetes when this study began.
These participants were asked to wear an accelerometer for seven nights. It is a device that measures movement while sleeping. Then researchers tracked them for the next 7.5 years to check if these people developed type 2 diabetes. Researchers wanted to understand the link between irregular sleep durations and diabetes development.
When researchers observed the collected data, they found that there is a link between irregular sleep patterns and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. Irregular sleep was defined as sleep duration changing by 60 minutes or more between nights. Those with irregular sleep patterns had a 34% higher risk of type 2 diabetes as compared to those with regular sleep patterns. This risk remained the same even after considering some factors such as family history, lifestyle, co-morbidities and obesity indicators.
But this study has some limitations. Lifestyle information was collected before the study started that may have affected the results. The assessment of sleep duration may not show long-term patterns. The participants were mostly older and white, so the results may not apply to other groups.
Researchers of this study now want to conduct a study that includes people of younger ages to understand more about it.
This study is very important as it can help reduce the risk of diabetes in different ways. Experts can make new treatment plans and strategies that can improve patient care. Health officials should make some strategies to encourage regular sleep patterns. But there is still a need for further research to fully understand and confirm the results in other groups as well.
