The study, published in Diabetes Care, examined the long-term effects of sleep duration on the development of diabetes. Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, followed 1,100 middle-aged and elderly men for the development of diabetes, from 1987 to 2004. Sleep duration activity was obtained from the participants during this time.
The researchers found that men getting less than 5 to 6 hours of sleep per night were twice as likely to develop diabetes, compared with men getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Furthermore, men getting more than 8 hours of sleep per night were three times as likely to develop diabetes, compared with men getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. The risks remained unchanged after adjustment for factors including age, blood pressure, smoking status and waist circumference. However the risk was significantly reduced when adjusted for testosterone. The researchers suggest that the effect of sleep on diabetes could be mediated by changes in testosterone levels.
"Short and long sleep durations increase the risk of developing diabetes, independent of confounding factors," the study authors conclude. "Sleep duration may represent a novel risk factor for diabetes."
Posted by Kristopher Foster on April 30, 2006 12:39 PM
