Sleeping with Diabetes

What self-management strategy costs nothing, doesn’t hurt and doesn’t make us give up things we like, and yet most people don’t do enough? We’re talking about sleep. Why is sleep important, and how can we get more?

Research shows that inadequate sleep (insomnia) contributes to diabetes, its complications, and early death. A study at Penn State University found that people who slept less than six hours a night had 1.8 times higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and 2.3 times the risk of death by stroke.

Many studies have found that even one night of poor sleep increases insulin resistance, and chronic poor sleep increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Short sleep duration can increase levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin, stimulate production of the stress hormone cortisol, and decrease glucose tolerance, all of which promote diabetes