Research reveals: What is the "best sleep time" for people with diabetes?

Sleep is a self-healing process of the human body, about one-third of a person's life is spent in sleep, too long and too short will affect health
.
However, staying up late has become the norm in the lives of
many young people.

Staying up late can be very harmful to the body, and previous studies have shown that sleep deprivation is associated
with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure and overall mortality.
On 18 October 2022, an article titled "Correlation between sleep duration and multimorbidity risk at 50, 60 and 70 year olds in the UK: 25 years follow-up of the whitehall II cohort study" published in the journal PLOS Medicine has further deepened our understanding
of the relationship between sleep and health.

Studies have shown that sleeping less than 5 hours increases the risk of premature death by 25% and is 30%
more likely to develop at least two life-threatening diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
It is recommended to sleep about 7 hours a day, and it is advisable to go to
bed early and get up early.

Sleep time: too long, too short is not good!

This study included 7,864 participants, aged 50 to 70 years, from the UK prospective Whitehall II cohort study, and explored the correlation
between sleep duration and mortality and the prevalence of chronic diseases such as heart disease/diabetes over a follow-up period of 25 years.

➤ Compared with people who are accustomed to sleeping 7 hours, people who sleep less than 5 hours have a 30%, 32%, and 40% increased risk of various diseases, including diabetes and heart disease, respectively (P value <0.
001)<b10> in the 50, 60, and 70 age groups.

➤ Compared to people who are accustomed to sleeping more than 9 hours, the risk of multiple diseases is increased by 54% and 51%, respectively, in the 60 and 70 age groups (P-value ≤0.
01).

Table 1 Relationship between sleep duration and disease risk

The best sleep time for diabetics: 7 hours is appropriate

As shown above, sleep time of less than 5 hours or more than 9 hours is associated with a significant increase
in the risk of disease.
Further analysis found that maintaining regular sleep of about 7 hours a day had the lowest
risk of adverse events.

Fig.
1 Correlation between sleep duration and risk of disease/adverse events

ADA/EASD: Consensus on the Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes (2022) gives similar recommendations for sleep recommendations for people with diabetes:

➤ Sleeping too long and too short is not good: long sleep time (>9h) and short (<6h) have a negative impact<b10> on blood sugar.

➤ Emphasis on "going to bed early and getting up early": "Going to bed late and getting up early" may lead to worse blood sugar control and lack
of exercise than "going to bed early and getting up early.
"

➤ Emphasis on continuity: Maintain good sleep habits
even on weekends.

➤Ensure sleep quality: Irregular sleep leads to poor blood sugar control, which may be affected
by the increased prevalence of insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Suffering from insomnia? A few tips to promote sleep

Researchers say it's important to develop good lifestyle habits to ensure better sleep, such as:

➤ Make sure the bedroom is quiet, dark and maintain a comfortable temperature
before going to bed.

➤ It is recommended to stay away from electronic devices before going to bed: because the blue light emitted by smartphones and tablets can fool the brain into thinking that it is daytime, blocking the secretion
of melatonin.

➤ Avoid eating too much before going to bed: Snacking late at night reduces metabolism and increases fat storage, which can lead to obesity
.

➤ Increase exercise: During the day, moderate increases in physical activity and sun exposure, which may also promote good sleep
.

➤ Avoid alcohol and coffee, which is also essential
for improving sleep quality.

Yimaitong compiled from:

[1] Sabia S, Dugravot A, Le´ger D, Ben Hassen C, Kivimaki M, Singh-Manoux A (2022) Association of sleep duration at age 50, 60, and 70 years with risk of multimorbidity in the UK: 25-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study.
PLoS Med 19(10): e1004109.
https://doi.
org/10.
1371/ journal.
pmed.
1004109

[2] Davies MJ, Aroda VR, Collins BS, et al.
Management of hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes, 2022.
A consensus report by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
DIABETOLOGIA.
2022 Sep 24: 1-42.
DOI: 10.
1007/s00125-022-05787-2, PMID:36151309