Jul 22 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Losing sleep could up risk of diabetes: Scientist
Chennai:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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Night owls who surf on smartphones or watch movies late into the night beware.You could be at a higher risk of getting diabetes and becoming obese than a person with a normal sleep cycle, warned Dr G R Sridhar of the Endocrine and Diabetes Centre in Visakhapatnam.
Talking on `Exploring the link between diabetes and sleep' at the second annual conference of Endocrine Society of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry here on Saturday, the diabetologist said those without enough sleep at night were more prone to diabetes and obesity .
Pointing out various studies done in the West and in India, he said a disrupted sleep cycle could trigger several complications resulting in long lasting disorders such as diabetes.
“Before electricity was discovered, human beings matched the time of day with metabolism. But later, when there was source of light all through the day and night, the cycle changed significantly and many people chose to stay awake even late at night,“ he pointed out.
“As we have evolved, our duration of sleep gradually decreased from 9 hours to 7 hours.“ Sridhar said several studies had established the link between sleep and diabetes and it had been proved the chances of those sleeping less than six hours getting diabetes was one and a half times higher than those who slept well.
“As people stay up late into the night, hormonal imbalance takes place and dis rupts the metabolic rate.
Even the expression of genes changes and sets off a variety of disorders,“ he said.
It was the other way round for diabetics who had trouble getting sleep. A study led by Sridhar on `Prevalence of sleep disturbances in diabetes mellitus' showed that several factors contributed to a diabetic losing sleep at night.
Advising people to shut off their gadgets a few hours before they go to sleep, Sridhar said they should stick to a sleep routine. “Seven to eight hours of sleep is a must for a healthy life.
Talking on `Exploring the link between diabetes and sleep' at the second annual conference of Endocrine Society of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry here on Saturday, the diabetologist said those without enough sleep at night were more prone to diabetes and obesity .
Pointing out various studies done in the West and in India, he said a disrupted sleep cycle could trigger several complications resulting in long lasting disorders such as diabetes.
“Before electricity was discovered, human beings matched the time of day with metabolism. But later, when there was source of light all through the day and night, the cycle changed significantly and many people chose to stay awake even late at night,“ he pointed out.
“As we have evolved, our duration of sleep gradually decreased from 9 hours to 7 hours.“ Sridhar said several studies had established the link between sleep and diabetes and it had been proved the chances of those sleeping less than six hours getting diabetes was one and a half times higher than those who slept well.
“As people stay up late into the night, hormonal imbalance takes place and dis rupts the metabolic rate.
Even the expression of genes changes and sets off a variety of disorders,“ he said.
It was the other way round for diabetics who had trouble getting sleep. A study led by Sridhar on `Prevalence of sleep disturbances in diabetes mellitus' showed that several factors contributed to a diabetic losing sleep at night.
Advising people to shut off their gadgets a few hours before they go to sleep, Sridhar said they should stick to a sleep routine. “Seven to eight hours of sleep is a must for a healthy life.
